Dear Reader Column 01-26-11

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Dear Reader,

Driving down the road last weekend, I passed by a boy and his dog sitting behind a card table with a sign taped to it. I couldn't read the sign, but I could see a jug of lemonade and cookies. It was a cold morning here in Sarasota, Florida, too cold for a casual glass of lemonade and I started to worry the boy wouldn't get much business. I knew I only had a couple of twenty dollar bills in my wallet, so I turned around and drove back home to retrieve some lemonade money.

I try to stop whenever I see a kid's lemonade stand. When I was a young entrepreneur, my lemonade stand turned into a booming little business. My father worked as a mechanic at the car dealership right behind our house. In the summer, it got pretty hot in the non-air conditioned garage, so Dad and the other mechanics became regular customers. And if that memory doesn't inspire me to slow down my busy schedule and buy lemonade from a budding entrepreneur, I recall the year when Bailey, my granddaughter from Wisconsin, was visiting at Easter. Bailey decided to sell her Easter candy. After setting up a card table and covering our yard with signs, she sat anxiously waiting for her first customer. I gently tried to pave the way for possible disappointment, explaining that every kid would have Easter candy, business was all about supply-and-demand, and since the Easter Bunny had pretty much taken care of supplying every kid in town, business might be slow. We get a lot of walkers and joggers going by our house, so this grandmother filled her pocket with change, walked down the street, stopped folks who would be walking by our house, gave them some change and asked if they would stop and buy something from my granddaughter. I know, I know, that's not how business really works. But years later when I told Bailey what I'd done, I explained that a little "networking" in business never hurts.

Pockets filled with lemonade money, my husband offered to take a stroll with me, to what I thought was a lemonade stand--but it wasn't. Instead of LEMONADE 25 cents a glass, the sign read: "Free Lemonade and Cookies. Donations to the Humane Society Accepted." A serious, sincere, 12-year-old boy, along with his dog Samuel (who had been adopted from the Humane Society) were bundled up in the cold, doing a good deed--and having fun, too. Not only could folks get a free glass of lemonade and a cookie, there was a tall jar of dog biscuits on the table, "You can give Samuel a dog biscuit, too! Go ahead, it's fun!"

Fun indeed and such an inspiration--a 12-year-old boy (who decided on his own), to do what he could to help other dogs like Samuel.

Thanks for reading with me. It's so good to read with friends.

Suzanne Beecher
[email protected]
www.MuffinsandMayhem.com

* This month's Penguin Classics book is THE LEAVENWORTH CASE by Anna Katharine Green. Start reading now and enter to win a Penguin totebag. Go to: http://tinyurl.com/January11Classics

 

 

 

Comments

[MT]

I enjoyed hearing about the young man and his dog! My sister adopted her cat, Belle, from the Humane Society shelter here about 6 years ago.

[CH]

What a wonderful story about the 12 yr old boy. I have a therapy dog, Gary, that visits schools to help in their reading programs as well as visit retirement homes. Love reading your columns.

[RR]

It's always a delight to me to read your daily emails. I love this story. I always try to stop when I see a kid and a lemonade stand because I, like you, want to try to stop them from being disappointed and disillusioned.
Thanks for always making my day!

[TE]

Your story reminds me of my own son. He is 5 and when he started receiving an allowance we discussed that some of each week's money would be his to spend as he wanted, some would be to save and some would be to "give." So after a few months of him putting money back I started talking to him about the different things he could do with his "give" money - the library, food for the homeless, the SPCA, etc. He decided on the SPCA. So we went shopping with his money and I kicked in the rest and we took quite a nice supply of toys, food, treats, etc. to our local SPCA. He was so proud of himself that he began his own little quest to raise money for the dogs and cats that didn't have a home. If he found a coin somewhere - it went to the "give" envelope. He also began to come up with ways to raise money, that to a five year old seems like a good idea, but didn't really go over too well. So we came up with a plan to make cookies and sell them - I tested this out at my work and was overwhelmed with orders! I only did it during November because I was just to busy to do it in December. We raised $85 and gave it to the SPCA right after Christmas. Now that the holidays are over we might try it again or maybe make dog treats this time around. I'm also going to suggest a cupcake sale in the spring.... He's into it and I'm so proud of him.

[NR]

I just HAD to tell you how heartwarming this column was today. It made me almost cry to think of that young boy sitting out there on a cold day trying to raise money for the SPCA. Both my dogs are from our local SPCA and we donate there all the time, BUT to think of that young man doing what he did. How very sweet. And to have the jar of biscuits for Samuel - well,.... that just "took the biscuit"!!!! How adorable. Thank you for sharing, Suzanne. You're the very best!!!!!!!!!