Reason magazine's blog reports that our nation's crack security forces are protecting us all from the scourge of rogue lemonade stands.
Police in Georgia have shut down a lemonade stand run by three girls trying to save up for a trip to a water park, saying they didn't have a business license or the required permits.
Midway Police Chief Kelly Morningstar says police also didn't know how the lemonade was made, who made it or what was in it.
[...]
The girls needed a business license, peddler's permit and food permit to operate, even on residential property. The permits cost $50 a day or $180 per year.
[...]
The girls are now doing chores and yard work to make money.
Two young girls sell lemonade and cookies every year near their house during Appleton's Old Car Show. But this year that changed.
"We had a knock on the door from our local police officer who had to deliver us the news," said Mann.
Because of a new city ordinance, Margi Mann's daughter Lydia could no longer sell her lemonade. And their neighbor couldn't sell her cookies.
[. . .]
On June 1, the Appleton city council passed an ordinance preventing vendors from selling products within a two-block radius of local events. That includes Lydia's lemonade stand. She lives just one block from the car show, held at Pierce Park every July. Mann says the officer tried to see if the department could make an exception, but was told they had to follow the ordinance.
I didn't see Indiana on the list anywhere, so I can only conclude that our officials don't care that we might be subjected to potentially tainted refreshments sold more cheaply than our fine festivals can compete with. The Three Rivers Festival just ended, so I suggest TRF planners start making contingency plans should any of these evil little girls try to crash the party next year. Make 'em put up a tent and pay a fee, just like the beer vendors do. The lemonade shouldn't cost more than $4 or $5 a glass if the fees are kept reasonable and the liability insurance isn't too expensive.
