Kids behind the Counter

Kids behind the

Counter There’s no doubt children all over are excited for Christmas, but some aren’t just getting presents, they’re making and selling them

There’s no question kids are as busy today as they ever have been. But it isn’t all fun and games.

This past weekend, a number of Tracy area youth were busy working — some in Marshall, some in Tracy.

One in Marshall, six grade school children who make up Six Bestie’s Creations — Hazel and Elise Kimball, Ada Louwagie, Claire Schreier, Georgia Peterson and Emma Schreier — were one of the many vendors at the annual Kindlmarkt at the Marshall Area YMCA. The young ladies were selling homemade Peler Bead magnets, coasters, 3D items and necklaces with sayings stamped on them. The gifts range in price from anywhere from $.50 to $5.

“We’re selling stamped necklaces that have little diamonds on them,” Claire Schreier said. “Some of printed hearts and stamped hearts. One says ‘Stay Wild,’ one says ‘Love,’ ‘Wild & Free,’ Believe.’” The girls started making the crafts about a month ago. “We’re just doing it for fun,” Claire Schreier said, adding that it wouldn’t hurt to bring home a little cash.

“Six Bestie’s Creations is our name,” Peterson said. “My mom and the other moms thought of some names and we voted.

The girls said any money they brought in would be split up among them.

A few stations down from the besties, Boden Carlson was carrying on a Carlson five-year family tradition by selling the family’s famous homemade Belgian Cookies, which are the product of a family effort.

“Sometimes, we burn them, so we get to eat those!” Boden said.

Years ago, the oldest Carlson boy, Nolan, sold cookies to raise money for his trip to Cooperstown to play baseball with his friends. Boden also bakes and sells, and Soren, the middle Carlson kid, also bakes and sells to raise money.

“It went well with Nolan, so we just kept doing it,” Boden’s mom, Kristina said.

Mom said while raising some money is great, the kids get much more out of it.

“They get responsibility and working with people,” she said. “They handle money, package the cookies. They have more skin in the game for their project. They’ve realized that it costs money to buy animals and raise them. It’s not that we’re just getting them for them.”

The Carlsons sell the cookies by the dozen; they brought 70 of them to Marshall.

“We’ve been making them over the last couple weeks,” Kristina said. “You have to mix them the night before. It’s all on our calendar as to when we have to mix them and make them.”

The Kindlmarkt started about seven years ago when three teenage girls — Chloe Stevens, Kaitlyn Runia and Chandler Link — had a desire to take what they were doing at a local farmer’s market and turn it into something bigger.

“They thought, ‘Wouldn’t it be great if there was some sort of bigger market for young entrepreneurs, and this was their dream,” said Chloe’s mother, Kandi. “Their idea was to have something where young kids could also sell.”

The event started as just a Christmas market, but there is now also a Kindlmarkt in the spring. More than 100 kids have taken part over the years. The young trio didn’t let the pandemic stop them, either, as they sold their wares in drive-thru fashion in 2020.

“The really cool thing is, a lot of the younger kids then end up joining CEO,” Kandi said in reference to the Lyon and Murray County CEO program that works with youth to start their own business. “They end up getting the entrepreneurial bug.”

Chloe, who will graduate from the University of South Dakota with an accounting degree, was 14 when she and her friends came up with the idea. The three girls talked about how there was no avenue kids could take that was solely dedicated to just them.

“I think we started with maybe seven vendors — super small — and it’s just grown a lot,” said Chloe, who is getting married in August. “This year, we had 15, but we’ve had up to 30 some years.”

In Tracy on Saturday, Elizabeth Buyck was one of the vendors at Tracy’s Holiday Bazaar at The Caboose. Buyck has started her own company called Cozy Noggins. She started out knitting hats and headbands, and expanded her efforts after her grandmothers taught her a few basic crochet stitches. From there, she self taught more complex stitches to create plushies and coasters.

The Amiret Busy Bee won Grand Champion at this year’s Lyon County Fair with her crocheted cardigan sweater this summer for 4-H and also made a dress that she wore to the homecoming dance this past fall. Her mother, Jenna, said she is saving money for more yarn and a car.