Zook’s coffee bar hosts young entrepreneurs from Tea area

By Garrett Ammesmaki,

Editor

Summer Oye sold her home grown plants at Kid Biz. Photo: Garrett Ammesmaki

Around six booths from young area entrepreneurs were set up over the course of a cloudy morning at Zooks Coffee Bar in Tea on August 13.

Kids from the Tea area set up shop to sell their homemade goods and, hopefully, kickstart a lifelong passion for business and invention.

Summer Oye was there to sell her plants. She had a variety of home-grown plants such as aloe vera, variegated spider plants, small-leaf spider worts, and pinwheel aeonium ivy.

She grew them all herself throughout the summer. But has been working with plants for as long as she could help her mother in the garden.

The 8-year-old has quite a green thumb. Her favorite plants are spider plans.

“If you clip their leaves, you can replant them and they can grow other plants,” she said.

Alongside homegrown pants, there was homemade Mexican candy being sold by Kayden and Harris Mueller.

Kayden took Skittles and other candy, and gave them a spicy twist with tahin and chamoy.

There were also bracelets and cookies sold from other kids who came out to the event.

Zooks Owner Linda Kokenge set up the event, and said it was an overall success. So much so, that she only wants to expand it next year.

Kokenge hopes to reach out to the Tea Economic Development Corporation and perhaps get seed money for any kids who get involved next summer.

“I think any time a child or teenager or adult has an idea to do something different that’s creative or unique, I think it’s our job as people in the community to support that,” Kokenge said. “ I think it makes us a stronger community when we do that, because we’re all here to help each other.”