Jim Windover and his daughter, Riley, slinging lemonade at the 4th of July Festival at the Mexico Rec Park. Bruce Farrin, Rumford Falls Times

RUMFORD — When she was younger, Riley Windover’s first shot at business was setting up a lemonade stand in front of their Knox Street home. 

Now 15, she told her dad, Jim, she was looking to make some money for the summer, and about having a lemonade business. 

Jim noted, “I know lemonade sells really good because every time I go to the Fryeburg Fair, I’m spending like $30 or $40 for lemonade for her. She drinks it all the time, so I’m buying it all the time at the fairs…So I told her we’re going to do it (lemonade business) but just like they do at the fair. We’re not making it up ahead of time. It’s being made right before your eyes.” 

It cost a couple thousand dollars to start . 

They debuted the business at Mexico’s Cinco de mayo event in May. “That was the first event we ever did. It bombed, because of the weather (rain and 40 degrees),” said Jim. 

However, they recovered and did great at Envision Rumford’s Spring Fair in Rumford. “That’s when it showed to me that this could make some money.” 

Then come the Fourth of July, the two put in nearly 16 hours straight setting up at both the Mexico and Rumford celebrations, which had continuous lines all during the both events. 

During that event, Jim said they used over a thousand pounds of ice, eight cases of lemons, and 15 five-gallon water bottles. 

There wasn’t even enough time to eat, with the only nourishment being, of course, lemonade. 

Jim said both were exhausted by the end of the day. “But it was an awesome experience with her. I also look at it as if you can’t invest in your kid, who can you invest in?” 

And because of all the time they had to spend with the build up and take down of the tent for their stand, they decided to get a trailer. 

Since then, Riley’s Quench Lemonade has been all over the region, such as Kingfield Days, which was the first time they used the trailer. 

At the start, Riley said she did this in part for some spending money, but the success of the business and increased revenue escalated that to something more — money for her future. 

Jim said this is something Riley wants to continue to do through her school years. “She’s having fun doing it.” 

Because Riley is being homeschooled, everything associated with this business is also part of her curriculum. 

Riley said the experience of having the business has “made me more independent so that I could pay for my own things.” 

But this has gone so well that she’s also putting money away for the future. “I want to be Game Warden, so I don’t necessarily need to go to college, but if I wanted to, I could.” 

They now have more than 20 flavors of lemonade. “Some of them are spicy, as in real spicy,” noted Jim. “One she (Riley) just made for someone from Augusta had carbonero honey in it.” 

And after a summer of serving, and drinking lemonade, Riley said she still loves lemonade and experimenting with different ways to prepare it. 

“My favorite is probably the peachy porcupine one because it’s like peach and pineapple, and my favorite fruit is pineapple and I like peaches, too. 

Riley said they came up with this serving of lemonade through experimenting. 

At the Oct. 17th Select Board meeting, Riley’s Quench Lemonade will seek town approval to park their trailer on Hosmer Lane this fall. 

Jim noted, “It’s so much fun doing this with her, it’s not funny! I like dealing with the public anyway. We have an awesome time.”