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In just its second year, 485 elementary school students throughout Coffee County raised $24,268.33 during the annual Lemonade Day in Manchester, roughly triple the number of the inaugural event last year.

The 2023 installment of Lemonade Day was open to students from throughout Coffee County, who hosted 27 student entrepreneur run lemonade stands throughout town during the event Thursday, May 18.

“I want this to be a Manchester staple,” Katy Riddle, Manchester Area Chamber of Commerce director, said following the event. “This program checks all the boxes in my mind of what a chamber of commerce should try to provide. It is community involvement and community development, it is partnership with schools it is future workforce, financial literacy and you are also promoting all these businesses. That is what a Chamber of commerce does.”

With sunshine, blue skies and warm temperatures, the day was primmed for a successful event, as community members stopped by the stands to purchase a refreshing glass of ice-cold lemonade. Students held colorful signs directing customers to their booths.

Deerfield Elementary teacher Emily Cornelius set up shop with her students in front of Capstar Bank in downtown Manchester.

“We are from Deerfield and our stand is Sweet and Sour Power,” she said. “The kids came up with their little motto for their stand. It is “Sour, Sweet and a Nice Treat.”

Part of the National Lemonade Day program is that students divide their earnings three ways, they spend some, donate some and save some.

“The money that they raise, for themselves they will buy a four-square volleyball net for the playground, part of the money will be invested back into the business and then for our donation we will donate part of it to The Dusty Elam Foundation,” Cornelius. “That is what the kids picked themselves.”

Riddle said last year the event raised $8,000 with only Manchester City Schools participating.

“This year Westwood Elementary School alone pulled in $8,300, so one school made pretty much the same amount as we did the entire event last year,” Riddle said. “Having the county schools was such a wonderful edition and it just shows you the power of community.”

“When we work together to support a common goal there is just nothing stopping us, it is so exciting,”: Riddle added.

Hickerson Elementary School teacher Leslie Waldorf was set up with her fourth grade students in front of Suncrest Home Health on the Manchester town square for the event.

“We did a whole unit on this before we did it,” she said. “We planned how we would do our own business, what we would do.”

Waldorf said students did research to determine what prices they would set for their lemonade in order to make a profit.

“They learned that it takes a lot of money to start up a business,” she said. “They learned all the aspects of what it takes.”

Waldorf asked her students if it is easy to run a business, a collective “No!” was the response.

College Street Elementary student Arieyah Beaudion was enjoying the day with her fellow students and teacher Tammy Kelly at their lemonade stand in front of Green Wave Solar.

“It is really good, it is actually really fun,” Beaudion said. “It is the experience of a business of your own and how to run it at the same time.”

Her classmate Piper Huddy agreed with her.

“I think it is really fun,” Huddy said. “Normally I don’t have the opportunity to do something like this.”

College Street Elementary Tammy Kelly said a lot went into preparing for Lemonade Day, and the students were involved in all the decision making.

“They worked on all the decisions that go into a business and learned they have to not spend too much up front and they have to have money up front to buy supplies,” Kelly said. “We talked about profit margins and how much per cup it costs and what they wanted to set their price at.”

Since its inception in 2007 in Houston, Texas, Lemonade Day has grown from serving 2,700 children in one city to more than one million in more than 80 licensed markets throughout the United States and other countries.