Scouts Hut - Building a Lemonade Stand

[sunbaked_baker]

Summer is the usual season for lemonade stands, Rae knows, but the door had kept her away after she'd shared her idea with Bonnie. And the first weeks of fall aren't so far from summer as to make the idea of a lemonade stand preposterous (already, her mind thinks hot lemonade in winter would be a good idea). And there is a rummage sale coming up. What better time to offer refreshments than while people will be milling around and looking at things outside?

So there is a sign up on the notice board near the rummage sale sign, reading:

MILLIWAYS SCOUTS
Come Help Build a Lemonade Stand at the Scout Hut
So We Can Sell Lemonade at the Rummage Sale
To Raise Money for the Bound Patrons/Kids Fund
Good for Credit Towards Woodwork, Entrepreneurship and Fundraising Badges

That done, little Rae goes to the Bar to ask for materials - boards and posts and wood glue and nails and paint and glitter and receipt book and all the things needed to make a good, sturdy lemonade stand - and a receipt for the cost. She glances at the receipt before tucking it in a little notebook labeled Scouts Things. Okay, so that amount plus the cost of the lemons and sugar and water will be the point where their stand breaks even. If they make more than what they spend on materials, they've made a profit. Okay.

Entrepreneurship is a bit daunting - and the cart of building materials is a bit heavy - but soon Rae is out at the Scout Hut with the building materials laid out, drawing a tentative plan for the stand on a large piece of paper tacked to a cork board. She figures it'll need a flat table-like surface big enough for two or three scouts to stand behind, with room enough on the table for a couple of pitchers of lemonade, a stack of cups, a plate of cookies or similar, and the receipt book. It'll need four legs sturdy enough to hold it up, and maybe there should be a sign or raised banner above the stand so that people can see there's lemonade to be had. Hmm.

Come join in!

Comments

[fry_sandhu]

"Have you passed your hand tools safety badge?" Fry asks, from nearby.

[sunbaked_baker]

"Yes, back when we made sledges," Rae pipes up, smiling. Then she hesitates. "Or was it snowball-flinging machines?"

"I'm not sure when it was, but yes. How about you?"

[fry_sandhu]

"Bonnie says I still have to be supervised." Fry says. "Because I wobbled the drill."

[sunbaked_baker]

"It's hard not to, sometimes, when you're pressing down hard or if the wood is rough," Rae admits, smiling. "But I'll supervise you if you need me to."

"We'll need to figure out what kinds of pieces we'll need, first, and how many, then measure the pieces to make sure they'll be the right size when we cut them. Then we'll cut the pieces to size, put them together, and then sand them down so they're smooth before painting and decorating them."

She thinks she got everything?

[fry_sandhu]

"How many people will we serve at once?"

[sunbaked_baker]

"I don't know how many people will be at the rummage sale. I was planning for the stand to be big enough that two or three of us could serve people at once."

[fry_sandhu]

"Okay." Fry says. "I can help."

Beat.

"Can I ask your advice?"

[sunbaked_baker]

Rae blinks in mild surprise at the unexpected question. "Sure," she nods. "Of course."

[fry_sandhu]

"I have to keep a secret." Fry says. "For a friend. He wants to take an exam to get into a school with a tennis court, and he wants me to help him. But I don't know how."

[sunbaked_baker]

"How to help your friend, or how to keep his secret?"

[fry_sandhu]

"Both." Fry says. "Because if I want him to pass, he needs the help of someone competent."

[sunbaked_baker]

"You're likely the most competent friend he has, which is why he went to you for help."

Fry is certainly the most competent kid she knows.

"I'd think... if he wants to pass an exam, he has to know what sorts of things will be on the exam, first." It's no good if he doesn't know what to study for. Once they know what it is he'll need to know, all that's left is learning it.

[fry_sandhu]

"There's a group in the class above that's taking a lunchtime group where they do the past papers." Fry says. "Maybe I could get some from there."

[herr_bookman]

Autor spots the sign after his morning run, and heads out to the Scout hut. "Working on the lemonade stand?" he asks little Rae, pushing the door open.

[sunbaked_baker]

Rae looks up from sawing a measured board, and smiles brightly. Leaving the saw and board, she comes over and gives him a massive hug. Or as massive a hug as a ten-year-old can give.

"Yup!" she answers, cheerfully, hugging him tight. "There'll be lemonade at the rummage sale next week. Good morning, Autor!"

[herr_bookman]

Autor eases into the embrace, wrapping his arms around her. "Good morning, Rae. I'm glad you've found something so industrious to do. Do you need any help?"

[sunbaked_baker]

"Would you like to help sand the boards? We've got - let's see - those four posts for the table legs, and those wide, long boards will be the table top. I'm cutting five shorter boards that'll go on the underside of the table top to hold the upper boards together and connect the table legs to the table top. We're just about to the point where we have all the pieces the right size, but they need to be sanded down before they're connected, I think, so we won't get splinters later."

This is the first table Rae has ever built, so she is a bit shaky on the details, but she is determined to see it through.

There are long, thin dowel rods as well, and a cloth banner (currently blank) that can be decorated, then connected to the table to advertise the lemonade they'll be selling.

[herr_bookman]

"I can sand the boards," Autor says, detangling himself from Rae and locating some sandpaper. He takes one of the boards in hand and gets to work, with strong, even strokes. "How did you come up with the idea?"

[sunbaked_baker]

"I was looking through the badge book and looking for things we might do, and thought about combining badges. The Entreprenuership badge and Fundraising badge looked like they'd work together well. I told Bonnie about it, and she said it sounded like a good idea."

[herr_bookman]

"I see," Autor says, sanding away at the board. "Well, it is a good idea. Combining badges makes sense. And selling lemonade at the rummage sale is brilliant. Hopefully you'll break even, but even if you don't, you'll have a table to sell other products from in the future. Did you get a receipt from the bar for all of the materials needed to construct the table?"

[sunbaked_baker]

"Yup!" Rae grins at him, moving back to begin sawing at the board again. "I got a receipt for the materials, and I'll get a receipt for the ingredients on the day-of, and I got a receipt book that makes copies of each receipt, so the customer will have one, and we'll have the copies in the book to turn in to the Bar afterwards, and she can charge the right accounts for the right amounts. That way we don't have to deal with money directly until afterwards, to find out if we broke even or made a profit."

[herr_bookman]

"Oh, that's brilliant," Autor says, flipping the board over to sand the other side. "I wouldn't have thought of that. That will be a great business model for the future, too. How much are you thinking of charging for the cups of lemonade?"

[sunbaked_baker]

"That's the brilliance of it," Sunshine beams. "I'm leaving it up to the bar. You know how you can order anything from any world from the Bar, and it only ever costs about how much a similar thing would cost in your own world? That's what Bar will do with the receipts. So we don't have to put a price up, and neither the customers or us will have to worry about exchange rates and all. And we know Bar's prices are fair."

No use wondering how much a Viking might pay for lemonade and a cookie. No worry about how much one world's money translates to the denominations of another world's version of a different country, five centuries later.

[herr_bookman]

"Excellent," Autor says, selecting another board to sand. "You've really outdone yourself this time, Rae. Will we have other products than lemonade to sell?"

[sunbaked_baker]

"I'm thinking cookies, maybe?" she suggests, grinning and looking over for his input.