Lemonade and sprinkler days
By Ty Johnson
Published in News on June 10, 2011 1:46 PM
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News-Argus/MICHAEL BETTS
Cayla Lovic, 9, wipes water off her face while in the sprinkler at Sprinkler Fun Day in the Cornerstone Commons. Every Thursday this summer from 3 to 4 p.m., a sprinkler will be turned on in the Commons for people looking for a fun way to cool off.
Caroline Lovic could pretend Thursday that she was enjoying a relaxing afternoon in her back yard as she enjoyed the afternoon sun at the city's Cornerstone Commons downtown.
Almost.
The mother of five entrepreneurs, all 10 or younger, was too busy overseeing the family business to relax. Her children set a lemonade stand set up on the stage while a sprinkler set up by the Goldsboro Fire Department fired cool water into the air.
A nearby hydrant pumped the water through the 6-foot-tall tower, spewing drops of water across the concrete plaza, cooling half a dozen kids who skipped or laid in the sprinkler's range, but Kylie, 10, is preoccupied with attracting customers for the family beverage stand.
"Can I pour the next one?" she asked her mom, while her two brothers and two sisters scampered around the grounds.
For Mrs. Lovic, 29, the city's offerings allowed her to find inexpensive ways to entertain her five children. From Boo It to the Pet Parade to the weekly summer sprinkler days, she said the trip downtown from her southern Wayne home is always worth it.
"They have a blast with it," she said.
And the first sprinkler day of summer was the perfect chance for the kids to try out their lemonade stand idea, especially since their home in the county doesn't get much traffic.
"The kids have asked, and we've never been in an area where they could do it," Mrs. Lovic said.
"We wanted to do something to do with money," Cayla, 9, said, between runs through the sprinkler.
Kylie explains that the family has visited the sprinkler downtown often during past summers, so when the lemonade stand subject came up the night before, mom obliged by giving the children some startup lemonade capital.
The city will host sprinkler days each Thursday of summer near the police and fire complex downtown.