Young lemon seller
Atticus Murray knows that when life gives you lemons, you make lemonade.
The six-year-old Hamilton boy has turned the proverbial fruit into a lucrative business, selling $12,000 of homemade American-style lemonade to raise money for a school trip.
With help from his four-year-old brother Felix, Atticus and his family have become familiar faces at markets around the Waikato.
For 18 months they’ve been juicing, mixing, bottling and serving up the sweet-yet-sour drink and mum Jean and dad Dave said the boys have taken the business in their stride.
So much so, that Felix insists on dressing up in a shirt and bow tie.
The family has gone through more than 500kg of lemons, but they haven’t had to pay for a single one.
‘‘It’s become such a community thing. Heaps of people have donated their lemons, sugar, and a lot of different fruits,’’ Jean said.
But the family are in desperate need of more lemons, to help get them across the goal line before the trip in June.
This weekend will be a big push to raise the last $3000 needed for the voyage.
They’ll be making pumpkin waffles and pumpkin pies at the Great Pumpkin Carnival on Sunday, and will be selling their lemonade at The Waikato Show on April 7 and 8.
After that, they’ll be at the Tamahere Country Market, held every month.
Best-sellers are the original lemonade and strawberry lemonade flavours – Atticus’ favourites, Jean said, but the combinations don’t stop there.
They’ve also made plum lemonade, watermelon lemonade, and grapefruit lemonade.
‘‘Everything we’ve tried so far has been pretty good,’’ Jean said. ‘‘Cucumber was my favourite.’’ Atticus attends Te Kura Amorangi o Whakawa¯ tea, a kura (school) in Deanwell, and in June they will be heading to Los Angeles in the United States.
The trip is fitting, because mum Jean is originally from America.
She said selling homemade lemonade was the classic thing for kids to do in the US.
●➤ Those wishing to donate fruit can email dave@audiooptic.co.nz