Lemonade stand gets police endorsement

A cool glass of lemonade is just the ticket on a summer afternoon, and the Cape Girardeau police department had a hand in helping one lemonade stand get going.

Behind Ruler Foods grocery store in Cape Girardeau, there's a small stand -- The Best Lemonade Stand -- and its proprietor, Dekaveon Walton-Bell, 7, of Cape Girardeau.

His mother, Denesha Walton, said he had a list of things he wanted -- including a PlayStation 5 video game console -- so she figured he'd better get a job to pay for all of it.

Walton-Bell and his cousin, Jamari Warfield, also 7, were busy Friday afternoon, serving up lemonade, fruit punch, chips, candy and nachos to patrons.

Walton said the stand itself had taken a few days to build and paint, and the Cape Girardeau police department helped out with the business license.

Cape Girardeau police Sgt. Joey Hann said, "While on patrol this week, Cape Girardeau police officers noticed that this young man had set up a lemonade stand, and several officers passed this around the department to support him. After stopping by, we were so impressed by his service that school resource officer (SRO) Amanda Rhodes went to city hall and got him an honorary business license."

Hann continued, "He was so excited to have the honorary license he told us he was going to frame it and hang it behind his register."

"The best part has been getting a new phone," Walton-Bell said.

"And meeting so many new people," Walton added.