There were the Lemon Crushers, the Lemon Slayers, the Mighty Lemons, the Super Lemons, and even the Lemonaders.
Lemonade stands were everywhere in Hudson and Wooster on April 30 and May 1, as national Lemonade Day premiered in Northeast Ohio.
And while it was not exactly lemonade weather, students from Seton Catholic School and the Wooster City Schools managed to squeeze lemons into a profit.
Lemonade Day started in Houston in 2007. It is intended to provide young people with "a simple, hands-on opportunity to experience entrepreneurship and learn critical life lessons," according to Burton D. Morgan Foundation President Deborah Hoover.
The Foundation sponsored the program in Northeast Ohio by providing a grant to Prepared4Life, the nonprofit that started and runs the program nationally. The grant covered the cost of a license for all interested groups in Northeast Ohio and the ability to buy curriculum materials at a bulk rate. Each participant got a backpack full of ideas, tips and a recipe book. It also included a guide for adult mentors.
It was up to the students to find investors and venues, prepare their lemonade, calculate their costs – adding enough to the retail price to make a profit – and then to promote their stands.
Some made the lemonade from a dry mix. Others used lemons and/or frozen lemonade. One group added oranges. Some sold cookies. Many of the young entrepreneurs said they were using a "secret" family recipe.
According to the plan, the student vendors will pay back their investors and make a profit. In some cases, they keep the profits for themselves. In other cases – particularly in Hudson and Wooster – some of the profits were designated for a charity.
One sign in Wooster told the story: "For Japan and cystic fibrosis," it read. In Hudson, a group whose profits were designated for the local Humane Society, was also selling dog treats.
Nationally, the concept of Lemonade Day is to saturate a city with stands. Early May has become the tradition for the Houston-spawned project.
However, some schools from Northeast Ohio have chosen other dates later in May or into June. Seton chose to have two Lemonade Days – on Saturday and Sunday. Planners from Northeast Ohio are looking for a later date for the designated 2012 Lemonade Day.
Burton D. Morgan Foundation President Deborah Hoover visited stands in Hudson and Wooster on May 1.
"As we sampled lemonade from the stands, we chatted with students about all they had learned about marketing, planning and teamwork," she said. "The smiles – along with profits in the till – tell the story of valuable lessons learned and plenty of fun for these young entrepreneurs. We are looking forward to planning for Lemonade Day Northeast Ohio 2012 on a larger scale."