By Joseph Edgerton
Staff Writer

Lily Hallett, 12, of Bow sells homemade treats from her roadside stand for a few hours daily at the intersection of South Bow and Allen roads. “The biggest difference you can make is by being nice or just being a good person.” (Joseph Edgerton Photo)

Lily Hallett has a knack for compassion, simplicity and humor when it comes to business.

“It’s important to me to be important to other people,” she said. “The best way you can do that depends on who you are.

“Besides, lemonade is kind of boring.”

Since June 24, the Bow 12-year-old has been manning her snack stand, selling fruits and vegetables alongside her homemade baked goods. What’s more, she plans to donate 100 percent of her proceeds to charity.

“At the beginning of the summer, I sold strawberries, but that season is over,” she said. “Now I’m selling zucchini, squash, peppers and cucumbers, and later in the fall I’ll sell pies.”

A self-proclaimed health nut, Hallett has grown accustomed to improvising meals for herself, and cooking treats for her customers, such as cakes, cookies and pies.

“When I’m cooking for myself, I make up my own recipes a lot of the time,” she said. “But when you’re cooking for other people, you have to go by the book.”

Hallett has printed out her own business cards, and can be found at the stand on an almost daily basis. Her operation is at the intersection of South Bow Road and Allen Road.

“I tried to work out here a couple of years ago, but my mom said it was too far,” she said. “I’m out here for a couple of hours each day, usually from 4 to 6 p.m.”

Since the start of her stand, Hallett has made nearly $125. Her original goal was $100, but now she is aiming for $200. She is pleased with her progress, but uncertain of where to send her charitable donation.

“I’m thinking of making up a little Web site and getting other opinions, so people can tell me about worthwhile charities.”

While the rate of her sales varies, she is supremely optimistic.

“Sometimes I think people have a hard time believing that I can make things on demand, and I wish they would call me,” she said. “There’s really no limit to what I can make.”

Hallett’s novel approach to salesmanship is tempered by a practical side other competitors her age often miss.

“Being out here all day sounds heroic, but it’s relatively pointless,” she said. “I usually work for two or three hours at a time, and that’s when there’s the most traffic.”

Each day she makes new creations in her kitchen at home, and each day she patiently waits for a customer to pull out of the stream of traffic along South Bow Road.

“If there was a little more traffic, I could be out longer,” said Hallett. “I spend about as much time cooking as I do out here at the stand.”

In addition to helping charity, Hallett said that there is a more practical side to her snack stand.

“Buying locally grown produce helps the environment; the more there is to buy, the better,” she said. “I’d like to think that a bag of blueberries, sugar snap peas, a loaf of banana bread or a cookie will please those who buy it.”

“I think that should be the goal of any business; pleasing people,” she said. “I hope that I’m doing it.”

Can one person running a roadside snack stand really make a difference?

“I think it’s important that kids try to make some difference,” she said. “It isn’t logical to wait 20 years; you can make a difference now even though you think it might not be as big of a deal as when you’re older.”

For more information, Lily can be contacted via e-mail at lilyhallett@comcast.net, or at 228-2008.