T his past weekend, Joss learned how to be a sales person! First, he joined Cub Scouts, and apparently it’s already popcorn season. Then, we signed up for The Lemon-Aid Project and ran our first lemonade stand! Learn more about both below.

Joss was really asking to join Cub Scouts this year, and it seemed like a nice opportunity to make more friends. And probably do some things – camping – that are a bit out of my comfort zone. We went to our first meeting last week. I was shocked to realize it was already time to start selling popcorn!

Joss in his new Cub Scout uniform outside the Boy Scout building in Tulsa!

I was surprised by how enthusiastic Joss was to sell popcorn. He insisted we go out the next night to First Friday to join his pack on the corner of ahha. After five minutes of enthusiastic sales pitches, he got a little shy. We went inside ahha and made a sign reading “Popcorn!” After that, he took his sign back to the corner and re-joined the sales team. They did a great job!

The next day, we headed out to the Farmers Market for Saturday morning sales! It’s an easy job for me, because I just sit back. Joss and the other scouts do all the hard work. It was fun watching him develop his pitch from “Do you want popcorn?” to “Do you want popcorn? Or maybe some honey roasted peanuts?”

Anyway, we will see how Cub Scouts goes! But at the moment, he’s a big fan!

The Lemon-Aid Project was founded in 1994 by Katie Murray, age 10, who ran a lemonade stand along with her siblings. They donated the proceeds from their stand to Tulsa Day Center for the Homeless. According to this article, in 1995, there were 117 lemonade stands set up over Labor Day weekend, and together they raised about $7,000. The idea behind The Lemon-Aid Project is “Kids Helping Kids.”

The Lemon-Aid Project ran from 1994 to 2000, then took a hiatus until 2019, when it celebrated its 25th Anniversary. In its first 6 years, the project raised $350,000 with the help of 10,000+ youth volunteers. Learn more at thelemonaidproject.org/the-lemon-aid-project.html

Naturally, Covid led to a cancellation in 2020, but they came back for 2021. This year was our first year participating. It always occurs over Labor Day weekend.

Joss and a school friend had talked about running a lemonade stand over the summer, just for fun. But it was TOO HOT! So when I saw the info about this year’s Lemon-Aid Project, I thought that would be a fun opportunity!

It started with a Lemon-Aid Kickoff Event on Mother Road Market the Friday before Labor Day. We pre-registered online, and attended the event to pick up our Lemon-Aid kit. This included 50 plastic cups, 6 two-liters of lemonade, a T-shirt, sign and instructions. The bag was HEAVY! But being able to just pick up the kit made everything so easy. All we needed to provide was the table, really. Although I did end up getting a rainbow balloon and colorful tablecloth, just for fun.

At the Kick-off event, you could also purchase lemonade in a commemorative plastic cup for $5. (Free refills!) And do a donation-based “punch wall.” We paid $10 and received $10 in Hideaway Pizza bucks! So it was a lot of fun.

On Sunday, we decided to set up the stand in front of our house in the morning and later in the evening. It was a great opportunity to meet neighbors. We went out again with our friends on Monday, and had a little adventure by getting caught in the rain.

All together, we raised $164, which this year was donated to Lindsey House. Lindsey House provides housing and education to women and children “experiencing situational homelessness.” You can learn more about them at lindseyhouse.org.

Again, it was great listening to Joss get more comfortable with the sales pitch. He was able to explain that we were donating the money to Lindsey House, that there was a suggested donation of $1, “but you can pay anything you want.” We had some very generous neighbors. The goal is for each stand to raise $50, assuming they sell 50 cups at $1 apiece.

Anyway, it was a great experience from start to finish. Easy to sign up, easy to set up, easy to make the donation, and we really loved participating. Hopefully we will be back next year!

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Tara Rittler is the web & social media editor at TulsaKids Magazine. The name "Spaghetti on the Wall" is meant to reflect Tara's approach to life, parenting, and this blog: a kind of "see what sticks and try not to stress out" mentality. "Spaghetti on the Wall" will chronicle the adventures of raising her son, with an emphasis on baking, crafting and exploring Tulsa.

Follow Tara on Instagram: @peppermint_squeak