Girl’s lemonade stand back in business

Entrepreneurship at its best:

Media from all over the United States have swarmed to now-famous Avigayil Wardein — a brown-haired, 6-year-old who just lost two front baby teeth.

Naples police busted Avigayil on June 13 for selling lemonade without a city permit. The story filtered through the news wires and quickly became a topic on CNN, MSNBC and Fox news networks, as well as the “Today” show and “Inside Edition.”

It was only nine days ago that Avigayil was known to passers-by as the cute girl who sells plastic cups of lemonade for 50 cents in front of her Old Naples house. Today, she’s known as the Naples lemonade gal who has the whole country rooting for her and her ambitious little lemonade stand.

It turns out not many folks knew someone needs a city permit to operate a lemonade stand. Even Naples Mayor Bonnie MacKenzie bought lemonade from the small setup before Avigayil was forced to close it.

“I’ve been a customer of hers more than once,” MacKenzie said. “That means I’ve aided and abetted. You know what, I’m not one bit sorry. It’s good lemonade.”

On June 13, Naples police responded to a complaint from an anonymous neighbor who grumbled about the permit-less lemonade stand on the corner of Sixth Street and 11th Avenue South.