The 4th Annual Lemonade Day shared a perfect summer weather weekend with a wide variety of events that included River Festivals, car shows, Triathlons, Air Fairs, Running events, car races and of course the beginning of the red salmon run. Sponsored by the Soldotna Chamber of Commerce Lemonade Day is a nationwide event that encourages children to become entrepreneurs by opening their own lemonade stand.
They learn to set goals, develop a business plan, and make their very own money, which can be saved, spent and shared, says Soldotna Chamber event coordinator Andrew Rash. “This is a great day for the kids and beautiful weather, so it’s fun to see them running a business and learning life skills as they do. Educating the next generation and preparing them to be active participants in their community is a worthwhile task to dedicate the summer to while kids are out of the more traditional classroom. With over 20 stands here on the peninsula, the Soldotna Chamber of Commerce chose to endeavor to do just such a thing by organizing Lemonade Day. The whole idea behind the program is to get kids to develop their own business in their own way. We partner with Wells Fargo who sets up a business workshop and we go over different business strategies with the kids and they’re all very enthusiastic about what we do,” he said.
From home baked goodies to complement your favorite glass of lemonade which came in a wide variety of possible flavors including laser treated lemonade powered by a solar panel, Lemonade day was the perfect opportunity for kids to exercise ingenuity and creativity as they learn what it takes to run a business.
Spencer Kapp and Quinn Lucas located their stand on the corner of Marydale and the Spur Hwy in front of JoAnn Fabrics, “Business has been off and on but overall it’s been good,” said Kapp. “The kids built the stand themselves with material we had around the house and researched recipes online and really came up with everything on their own including their pricing lists and analyzing costs to figure out how much to charge. They did a really good job,” said Ryan Kapp, Spencer’s dad. Business planning wasn’t the only lesson learned as a result of Lemonade Day. Most of the young entrepreneurs donated at least some of their proceeds to charity, “These young people are also learning that giving is a part of earning and that’s what building community is all about and that’s why the Chamber organizes this each year,” added Soldotna Chamber president Ryan Kapp.
