OVERTON, Texas — Two Texas girls who were forced to shut down their lemonade stand by police because they didn’t have a permit have a plan to get around the rule.
On Saturday, 8-year-old Andria Green and her 7-year-old sister Zoey will instead offer the drink for free and will only take donations in Overton, about 120 miles east of Dallas.
Earlier this week, a police officer approached the stand, which was offering the drink for 50 cents and kettle corn for $1. The officer asked the girls’ mother, Sandi Evans, if a permit was obtained. Evans said she wasn’t aware one was needed.
The girls were raising money to take their father to Splash Kingdom for Father’s Day gift. Texas law required them to have a permit to sell the lemonade.
Police released the video from the patrol car’s dash cam of the encounter, KLTV reported. The first question to Evans was in reference to a permit.
“You get a permit with the city to serve this?” the officer asked.
“I didn’t know I had to,” Evans said.
“Yes ma’am,” the officer said.
“Really? For a lemonade stand? I had no clue,” Evans said.
“Yes ma’am,” the officer said.
“I knew we had to for garage sales and stuff like that, but I didn’t know little kids had to for a lemonade stand,” Evans said.
“We just have to enforce it,” the officer said.
A family friend went to City Hall to obtain a permit but the city waived the $150 fee, though the health department needed to inspect the stand.