Serving proudly since 1873 as the beautiful Nebraska Panhandle's first newspaper
Serving proudly since 1873 as the beautiful Nebraska Panhandle's first newspaper
Ronda Sue Liddrick will begin fourth grade studies this coming school year. But at the tender age of nine, the Chappell youngster is already a budding entrepreneur and local philanthropist.
Liddrick sells fresh squeezed lemonade from a table set up along Highway 30 in the Creek Valley High School parking lot. She uses any profits to help out friends, as well as her church.
The location, on Chappell's eastern edge, would not be considered prime by most businesses. Sometimes the lag between customers pulling up can be long.
“We hang out telling jokes,” Liddrick said.
Her grandmother, Peggy Haygen, spends time with her at the temporary stand. They attract locals and some traffic passing on the Lincoln Highway, though drivers must figure out why to people are sitting at a table in the middle of a parking lot. There is little in the way of marketing to support lemonade sales.
“I do have a sign but it keeps blowing away,” Liddrick explained. “I’m suppose to be making a new sign out of cardboard.”
The summertime business was Liddrick's idea. She considered it for some time before begging her parents to allow her to open the stand. They refused—until her grandmother moved to Chappell from Broomfield, Colo. recently.
Now the pair sit every Friday, from 9 a.m. to somewhere around noon, telling stories, laughing and pouring cool drinks.
Liddrick hopes to use the money she earns selling lemonade to buy school lunches for friends who can't afford to pay. She also wants to give some to her church.
When Liddrick grows up she plans to abandon the entrepreneurial world. Instead, she dreams about working as a banker or public school teacher—more a teacher, though, as this dedicated Chappell youth would like to continue selling lemonade during the summer months.
Her grandmother can run the stand while she's away in college, Liddrick said, thinking ahead.
A glass of lemonade, squeezed fresh before they set up shop, costs 50 cents. She also sells small pitchers for $5 and larger for $10.
Reader Comments(0)