Lemonade Stand Update!

As you may know, Gateway has had a lemon shake up stand at the Johnson County Fair for 49 years—since 1972 in fact.  Manned exclusively by volunteers, the lemonade stand is our biggest fundraising event each year and for many fairgoers getting their homemade lemon shakeup is a tasty tradition. 
Last year the fair was canceled due to the pandemic and even though the fair is being held this year we’ve decided not to have the Lemonade stand because we don’t think it’s safe to have large groups of volunteers crammed into the booth with no way to social distance.  And let’s face it, wearing a mask in July in Indiana for a four hour shift would be a lot to ask!
Even though things are looking up in Indiana—and will hopefully be even better by July—asking large groups of people to stand elbow to elbow and interact with large crowds just didn’t seem like the responsible thing to do.   We absolutely love and appreciate our volunteers and their health & safety is a priority.  Please keep your fingers crossed that this health crises continues to improve and we will see you at the lemonade stand in July 2022!
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On a sad note . . .
Gateway lost a longtime friend & supporter in April when Reverend Roger Gifford, former pastor of the First Christian Church of Bargersville passed away.
Reverend Gifford and members of his church played an important part in helping us prepare for the fair each year during our daylong “squeezeathons” at the church where they introduced using industrial juicers that made squeezing thousands of lemons so much easier. 
For over 30 years they took over at the lemonade stand on Tuesdays when their members manned all three shifts!  Each shift would compete for the most sales and Reverend Gifford and church members could always be counted on for selling a lot of lemon shakeups!
Thank you Reverend Gifford (and members of the First Christian Church of Bargersville!) your support will always be always be remembered!
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