Kids can get creative when raising extra cash

When temperatures plummet below zero, I stay warm dreaming of spring. The colder it gets, the more my memories take me to hot summer days when a fan and ice were the only remedies.

Hot days meant cold Popsicles. When I was a kid, my grandmother would go into her kitchen cabinet and take a few dimes out of the Mason jar that held her extra change. With our dimes in hand we would get on our bikes and head down to Abhalters' grocery store, the neighborhood market that held the treasures of candy and ice cream.

Abhalters' had giant fans that could cool you off as well. And if Marge Abhalter wasn't looking, you could stick your head down into the freezer for the ultimate brain freeze. Not that anyone wants to do that on these chilly winter days.

After we had chosen, we would sit on the porch of the store and enjoy our treats before they melted. Then it was back home for an hour or two of making designer clothing for our paper dolls before we headed down to the quarry for the best way of cooling off.

Sometimes on cool days we would still get a hankering for a creamy Fudgesicle or a melt in your mouth Creamsicle. On those days, my grandmother wasn't quite so generous. We had to find our own ways to raise the money for our treats.

We would put up a sign in my grandparents yard that read "Penny Carnival Here Today - 1 o'clock." Then we would drag everything we could find out of my grandparents house that could be a moneymaker. A milk bottle and clothes pins created a popular game, along with a hula hoop and a bean bag.

Prizes were things that we made or could get rid of, such as torn paper dolls whose designer days were over. We would also make prizes - dolls made by turning hollyhocks upside down were our biggest success.

Our rides made the biggest money since we charged two cents for them. We would tie a rope to my grandpa's grease cart, a board that had small wheels attached for working underneath the car. We would go up and down the driveway pulling kids on the cart. My grandfather also had a lift for cars. The rider just stood on the lift as we pumped away. Then we would pull the release and the rider would "float" the 18 inches to the ground. It was our most popular ride.

When we had enough money we would shut down the carnival and head to Abhalters. Any extra pennies filled the gumball machine.

My boys tried the lemonade stand with limited success. When my younger son was around 10, he and his friends hooked up extension cords and sold bacon at the sidewalk that was cooked on a George Foreman grill. He made a lot of money on that venture. The smell of bacon attracted buyers and his cost was nil since he took the bacon out of the meat drawer when his mom wasn't looking.

Today's 10-year-olds have a lot more business savvy. Johnny O'Brien started a lawn mowing business last summer called "Johnny's Magic Mowing." With a tiny briefcase in hand, he goes door to door in his neighborhood and makes cold calls.

"At first it was kind of scary," he said. "But I am much more comfortable now."

Inside his briefcase he carries handmade paper business cards that read, "Isn't it worth $20 to have it done? Johnny's Magic Mowing - Short on Experience. Tall on Enthusiasm."

"I am tall for my age," he added. "I'm 5 foot, one inch."

He even developed a little logo that includes a drawing of a lawn mower.

Twenty dollars is the median price for his lawn mowing. A smaller yard would be $10 and large yards are on a bid basis.

"Lawn mowing is a lot like coloring," he said. "You stay in the lines and then you fill in. I usually go in straight lines but in my yard I do circles."

Johnny's mom, Genevieve, pointed out that their yard has a concentric line so the circles work.

So why did Johnny start his small business?

"I spent too much money when I was 8 or 9," he said. "I need to work and save up."

For Johnny's mom, that is just fine right now.

"I think it's fabulous that trying to earn money for things that don't fit into our budget right now," she said. "He's a great kid with a big heart who finds pleasure in working."