Shae’s Wonderade

Youth entrepreneurship is alive and well in Hinton. This upcoming Saturday June 22, Community Futures West Yellowhead is hosting “Lemonade Day” - a day focused on encouraging youth to open their very own business.  The program fully immerses youth into the experience of being a business owner and focuses on every aspect of entrepreneurship right down to writing a business plan, applying for business licenses and food permits, and developing their own unique recipes.  They are mentored every step of the way, and I had the privilege to be a part of the recipe development stage.  

Ahead of the event, a panel of local judges including myself sampled the lemonade, and gave the kids tips and tricks to refine their recipes before the big day. One grand prize winner was chosen to receive a ribbon along with $250 cash, and Shae-Lyn O’Keefe took home the gold. While all of the recipes were fantastic, Shae blew the judges away when presenting her bright and cheerful peach lemonade.  

This recipe was created while Shae and her older sister were perusing the grocery store, trying to brainstorm different lemonade flavours.  They started to think about fruit, and landed on peach as their central flavour because they thought it made the lemonade more interesting. 

Shae sought out investors for her lemonade stand and her business plan includes paying back her investors 1/3 of the proceeds, donating 1/3 to a local charity, and using the final 1/3 to get a new ear piercing and purchase some CD’s. 

This project really helped spark Shae’s creativity.  She has plans to experiment with different recipes and open up her stand throughout the summer, and to one day have her very own business empire.

Shae’s Wonderade will be at Parks West Mall this Saturday, available for $2 a cup.  It was important to her to keep her price low so that it would be affordable for families.  Be sure to check out her stand, as well as 4 others throughout the community.  

You can find them all either on a desktop or mobile at www.hintonvoice.ca/lemonadeday2019 

Ingredients

- Ice Cubes

- Sunny D 

- Powdered Lemonade 

- Mio Peach/Mango

- Grenadine

Garnishes

- Lemon Slices

- Maraschino Cherries

- Peach Gummies

Extras

- Straws

- Beverage Umbrellas

Directions

Make lemonade according to package directions. 

Fill glass 1/4 full of Sunny D. Fill glass remaining 3/4 full of Lemonade.

Add 1 drop Mio Peach.

Add a splash of grenadine.

Garnish with 1 lemon slice, a maraschino cherry, and a peach gummy. 

Add a straw and a beverage umbrella.