BY STEVEN GORDON, LEMONADE DAY NATIONAL PRESIDENT

With kids of my own and as president of an organization that is all about lemonade, I can honestly say I’ve tasted many different lemonade recipes over the year. One thing about Lemonade Day kids is they get more and more creative every year with the product they sell. That’s a great testament to the Lemonade Day program. These kidpreneurs approach their business ideas like many successful business dreamers before them – a business plan, location, negotiation, what their lemonade stand looks like, advertising, and…an excellent tasting product. Time and again, I hear from kids who experiment with recipes they see on the Internet and even secret family recipes. The sense of pride in creating something their customers love is immensely gratifying.

I appreciate Wyler’s Light for being the sponsor and wonderful partner for the event. Wyler’s Light contributed $10,000 to support the 2019 National Best Tasting Lemonade Contest and provided the $300 prize. Together we searched for flavorful and creative lemonade recipes from young business owners. Local Best Tasting Contest winners in participating Lemonade Day cities were eligible to submit their recipes and photos as part of the competition. Contestants were scored on creativity, originality, clarity of ingredients and measurements, and clarity of instructions.

On June 28, the national office of Lemonade Day held its inaugural Best Tasting Contest in Houston, Tex. The three highest-scoring recipes were re-created to declare a winner. I’m so pleased to announce that our Lemonade Day judges declared seven-year-old Houston Suter of College Station, Tex. as the winner with his Ginger Lemonade Sorbet recipe. He received a $300 gift card plus national recognition via Facebook, Instagram and other social media platforms managed by Wyler’s Light and Lemonade Day.

Houston shared his successful winning strategy: “After last year’s [Lemonade Day Bryan/College Station] Best Tasting Lemonade Contest, we talked about trying to put the next year’s entry in a hollowed-out lemon for judging to make it stand out from the others. My mom helped me look for a special recipe online and the Ginger Lemonade Sorbet was a favorite. We found some little buckets in the store that fit inside the hollowed-out lemons perfectly. I was so excited to win Best Tasting Lemonade for [my hometown] Bryan/College Station!”

Congratulations, Houston. Lemonade Day salutes you.

I also want to thank the Wyler’s Light team for their partnership. Wyler’s is the perfect sponsor for our inaugural Lemonade Day National Best Tasting Contest. The team graciously distributed lemonade mixes, coupons, and novelty stickers to our young Lemonade Day participants this spring in 18 markets and funded the cost of the ingredients that were used by the Lemonade Day National Best Tasting Contest judges for recipe testing. I look forward to Wyler’s Light and Lemonade Day’s future efforts to support youth entrepreneurship together.

I’m sure I’ll continue to taste and enjoy many more cups of lemonade for years to come. And I’ll also know that every kid who desires to have a lemonade stand might just be a future business owner, civil servant, pastor, or even president! That puts a sweet smile on my face.

Please share this blog with your friends, family members, and co-workers. All of us at Lemonade Day National Headquarters appreciate your support!

For more information about Lemonade Day, please visit lemonadeday.org.