6-year-old girl gets special ribbon cutting ceremony for entrepreneurship

By Kolby Terrell

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    TONKAWA, Oklahoma (KOCO) — Sue Ann Lemay, 6, has been selling lemonade every summer since 2020, but recently she decided she wanted to step up her business, by joining the local chamber of commerce.

On Thursday, she joined the Tonkawa Chamber of Commerce, and they held a ribbon cutting in her honor.

“Her mom encouraged her to pay her dues. She did with her own money, and here we are today,” said Cristy Crumrine, executive director of the Tonkawa Chamber of Commerce.

Sue Ann Lemay gets up every summer day and makes lemonade for the residents of Tonkawa, but now here business is leveling up.

“I really, really, really like selling stuff,” she said.

“She said, I really need you to build on to my lemonade stand so I could sell hot dogs and maybe pizza, said Regina Lemay, her mother.

Her parents did add on, allowing her to sell hot dogs and even helped her make her enterprise official.

“She gave up her ten dollars to be a member of the chamber. So, it’s really about a ceremonial procedure and to encourage them to be a part of the community,” Crumrine said. “We put ‘em on our website. They can be in our events like our Fourth of July celebration.”

“I never had a ribbon cutting before, but it seemed like it’s really fun,” Sue Ann Lemay said.

Now, she’s their first and hopefully not last, junior entrepreneur.

“We might have opened a can of worms. We have a lot of kids mowing yards or looking for things to do in the summer and it hopefully will encourage them,” Crumrine said.

Sue Ann Lemay said with a big new crowd, she has plans for her money this summer.

“What are you gonna buy this year with your lemonade money,” her mother asked.

“Probably some more Girl Scout cookies,” Sue Ann Lemay responded.

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