Rustic Roots

Article by Wyatt Winters

JASPER, TEXAS- Today the community of Jasper came together to celebrate the Fall Butterfly Festival at the Sandy Creed city park. Vendors and booths filled the lot selling knicknacks and food to the festival goers. One such vendor is the Rustic Roots Sweets Stop, a lemonade stand owned and operated by the McIntrye family.

“We have our 3 sons working the stand.” Says father Adam McIntrye “They’re 17, 13, and 10… We started by going to dirt tracks in a little pop up canopy and some plastic tables… and it evolved from there.”

Adam speaks about why he feels it’s important for children to work their own business. “It shows them how to work. In today’s society there’s not a lot of working kids. It teaches them how to treat people well, how to manage money, how to stay clean and away from bad influences.”

This was their first time vending at the festival with their new trailer, but not their first time serving the Jasper community, as Rustic Roots also served Operation Graduation, providing lemonade and tea for a car wash on Saturday September 27th. The McIntrye family also have donated their profits to add cancer research.

Adam offered advice for families interested in starting their own business: “Save your money, it takes a lot of hard work and a lot of cleanup afterward, but it’s worth it.”