Abby Baker
It’s 45° outside on Sunday, Jan. 23, but that doesn’t deter 9-year-old Bentley Smith from setting up his homemade lemonade stand on 21st Avenue South in Gulfport.
He’s sold $1 plastic cups of lemonade alongside his grandfather, Christopher Littlewood, on weekend afternoons for the past month.
They have no plans to stop.
Smith runs the stand (cash only) while Littlewood makes the lemonade and keeps the outdoor heater cranking.
The 9-year-old says he’s saving his dollars to buy his mother, Stephanie Torres, a new laptop.
“I was saving up for a GoPro at first,” Smith said. “But now I want to buy my mom a new laptop. She used to have one and it got really old and broke.”
So far: $127.
“He’s (Smith) just very outgoing, very tenacious … he just has a really big heart,” Torres said. “Once he puts his mind to something, he does it.”
Some of Smith’s customers stumble across his booth organically, and some seek him out after seeing Littlewood’s Facebook posts on the Gulfport, Florida pages.
Abby Baker
According to Littlewood, Smith spends most weekends outside in his yard anyway.
“We’re always out here throwing baseballs or footballs around,” Littlewood told The Gabber. “He’s an outdoorsy kid, not the type to play video games.”
Right now, Smith wants to be a firefighter when he grows up. He sells his lemonade cups at a 50% discount for police and firefighters.
Find Smith at his stand every weekend from 12-4 p.m., at 5313 21st Ave. S.
