Photo By Janecze Wright | Patrons wait in line as 9-year-old Carter Wingo, of "USA Lemonade," serves a customer...... read more read more
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FORT CAVAZOS, Texas — After designing and building their stands, strategizing their concepts and even learning how to make lemonade from scratch from the experts at Chick-fil-A, it all came down to sales for the young entrepreneurs who participated in this year’s Lemonade Day May 3, 2025 at Fort Cavazos and surrounding communities.
Now in its 16th year at Fort Cavazos, Lemonade Day continues to inspire youth to become future leaders using lemonade stands to teach children, pre-kindergarten through high school, how to start, own and operate their own business.
“Young people learn the ability to go out and build a product and sell a product, and you see that every year,” said Chris Albus, Fort Cavazos Cavalry Family Housing project manager. “I’ve done this for five years now, and you see it every year.”
Participants have spent the last few months preparing to launch their own lemonade stands and Saturday marked the first official day of business.
Youths set up lemonade stands all over post, throughout the community and nearby cities. Some set up in front of their homes, while others partnered with local businesses to use their storefronts, but a few lucky stands were given prime spots in front of the Fort Cavazos Main Exchange, capitalizing on the consistent foot traffic and support from the military community.
Oakley Gray, 2, of “Bitty Bangs Lemonade,” was the youngest of the participants selling in front of the Main Exchange. Her dad, Spc. Ethan Gray, 615th Aviation Support Battalion, 1st Air Cavalry Brigade, said the event instilled lessons his daughter will use for years to come.
“She’s always enjoyed handling money but being able to count it and everything right in front of her, being able to handle it early on — I just think it helps her in the future,” he said.
Gray shared it was his family’s first Lemonade Day, and the event benefited them in more ways than one.
“I think it brings the family together,” he said. “Just coming back from deployment, just building the stand, helping design it and everything helped build the family a little bit better.”
With unique flavors, like blueberry, watermelon and pina colada, and packaging reminiscent of “grown-up Capri Suns,” the stand kept a steady flow of customers and profits.
The family plans to donate some of their earnings to Ronald McDonald House.
Sgt. 1st Class Adam Mohr, 3rd Squadron, 3rd Cavalry Regiment, conveyed the event has become a family tradition for each of his six children.
“This is our fifth year,” he said. “We’ve actually taken each one of our kids and each year they’ve all come out and done it. We’ve really looked at it as teaching the value of money and the value of giving back.”
Named after his 5-year-old daughter Haven, “Sweet Haven Lemonade” featured pineapple, strawberry and original lemonade, along with “cakies,” or cookies made from cake batter.
Mohr explained each year his children pick an organization to donate to, and this year Haven will give back to their family church, sending at least two youths to summer camp.
True to business form, he noted half the remaining proceeds will go toward paying back the stand’s start-up costs.
“She’s paying back her initial investment from the parents. This is 100% a business class,” he said.
Lemonade customized with flavored syrups; specialty drinks, like orange creamsicle made with orange Fanta and vanilla syrup; and novelty cups had customers lined up at 9-year-old Carter Wingo’s “USA Lemonade.” He plans to donate some of the proceeds from his stand to an animal shelter and treat himself to some go-carting.
“Selling lemonade is fun,” he said, but he expressed the best part of the day is, “putting smiles on people’s faces.”
| Date Taken: | 05.08.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 07.17.2025 17:06 |
| Story ID: | 543135 |
| Location: | FORT CAVAZOS, TEXAS, US |
| Web Views: | 26 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Post community pours into young entrepreneurs during Lemonade Day, by Janecze Wright, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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