Annabelle Lockwood makes the best homemade lemonade around Fountain Valley. Using her grandma’s recipe, a homemade stand built by her father and a lot of passion, she serves the gourmet refreshments – classic or pink lemonade, and flavors like peach, blueberry ginger and watermelon – to eager customers and charitable events.
But her passion is being tested by the regulatory hand of the State. Orange County authorities shut down Annabelle’s “small business” and gave her 30 days to get the proper permit and license.
The permit will cost around $200, but in order to secure the permit Annabelle will have to meet a bevy of government requirements – costing $3,500 – just to serve fresh-squeezed fruit juices to thirsty passersby.
According to the GoFundMe account set up by the Lockwoods to help meet this financial burden levied by the State:
1.She needs to upgrade her cart to get it up to commercial standards, in order to pass the inspection.
2. She needs to make the lemonade in a licensed facility. Licensed kitchens require: Liability insurance, a business license, a deposit and an hourly or monthly fee for use.
3. She needs commercial grade dispensers and bottles.
The family has received enormous support after media began telling Annabelle’s story, but in the meantime she has had to “turn down a wedding, corporate events, movies in the park and church events,” according to local KTLA 5.
Annabelle had previously set up her stand to help charities such as children’s cancer research and homeless services, but that was put on hold pending government permitting.
This isn’t just another business venture… it’s becoming a life lesson for a young ambitious entrepreneur. She will be able to do so much more in the community as well as at charity and school events to help others. She’s extremely passionate about her business, and we are so proud of her for creating something that so many others can enjoy!
It’s turning out to be a hard and fast lesson in how government requirements on businesses – many of which play no role in protecting people or the environment – put a heavy, unnecessary burden on aspiring entrepreneurs. Revenue collection is often the only driver of government permits and licenses.
Bearing down on the age-old tradition of youngsters setting up lemonade stands demonstrates how obsessed the State has become in “regulating” small business.
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It appears that Annabelle made it through the gauntlet, with the help of many who donated to her GoFundMe account after reading her story. Others are not so fortunate, though.
In Portland, Ore. an 11-year-old girl wanted to sell mistletoe from their farm at a holiday market to help her dad pay for her braces, which cost $5,000. But the Parks Bureau refused to let her set up without a permit, lease or concession agreement. She was told she could beg instead.
Justin Gardner writes for TheFreeThoughtProject.com, where this article first appeared.
I am surprised about that as under common law there is an inalienable right to do free commerce. Sadly If under pressure you start to register and beg for a licence then you lose all the common law right and need to go trough all the loops, but if you hold your ground, there is no need for such idiocy that is the bureaucracy created by the leeches.
Our wonderful government in action…
Always be a light that is shininginthedark
As far as the mistletoe girl goes; it is not a prepared product but a harvested one & there are no restrictions on selling it from a farmer’s market. Whomever told her this was overstepping their authority. You would have to pay the market’s fee for a table only.
It is a wonder why the government did not send in a SWAP team and murder the girl, just to make it clear that you have got to follow the government rules.
Statism idiocracy at it’s finest.
How do these paid for idiots make it to work and back again…do they sleep at night…
BTW: guess I ate smuggled burrito’s from a guy that was selling them out of his ice chest.
hmmm and yum. Thank you ice chest burrito seller man.
You are not allowed to make money unless some government entity gets a cut of the action. If anyone can explain how this is different from how the Mafia works, maybe they can enlighten us.
We all know this is licensing to eliminate low cost competition. This is at the low end.
We also see it at the high end for pharma drug testing, medical device testing, professional licensing, etc.
Orange Co. USED to be red. Now they are big gov too…for a lemonade stand.Idiots.
Singapore would WELCOME her with open arms and NO …regulations…none….that is where the youth of this country need to be going …FREEDOM is THERE not HERE…as we the people have let FREEDOM and LIBERTY be TAKEN from us by our ELECTED…employees….and their rules and regulations to make everything safe and secure for…THEM….POWER is what they want and POWER is what we have ALLOWED them to TAKE from us….OUR FAULT….maybe if we elect TRUMP we the people can regained somne power back…BUT most power has been lost at the LOCAL level…so time to run the LOCAL ELECTED POWER HUNGRY politicians OUT OF OFFICE….reduce rules and regulations…imho
Limp wristed faggots.
CAWS IDEA THAT THIS IS LIKE A FRAMERS’ MARKET ITEM SEEMS TO BE THE MOST LOGICAL AND RATIONAL COMPROMISE FOR THE COMMON GOOD. OUR REPRESENTATIVES, ELECTED TO MANAGE THE NECESSARY SOCIETAL INSTITUTIONS ON OUR BEHALF, ARE NOT REPRESENTING USE US FOR THE COMMON GOOD. ONE 6 YEAR TERM LIMITS STARTING WITH THE U.S. CONGRESS IS THE 21ST CENTURY SYSTEMIC CHANGE NEEDED AND DOABLE NOW. CHANGE, DISRUPTION, IS A NECESSARY FACT OF LIFE ESPECIALLY IN OUR INFORMATION AGE. http://WWW.ONE6YEARTERMLIMITS.ORG
Bet if she put up a sign saying, “buy lemonade to fund clinton campaign” , everything would be all reet .
Our tax dollars hard at work, extorting more money from our children. The local gestapo can get lost, because they are in it for the money grab. Would they have liability if people got sick from her lemonade? Nope, the licensing ‘authority’ has no legal liability, so why are they taking money? Seriously, the local gestapo should go after real ILLEGAL ALIENS who are working in restaurants all over town. Do you think the Chipotle disease outbreak was caused by LEGAL citizens? Nope, ILLEGAL ALIENS who are too ignorant and lazy to wash their hands after using the bathroom.