Amy Heise was looking for a cozy venue to sell her Just Add Water Bath and Body Creations so the Sip and Shop Artisan Craft Fair was set up at Trench Brewing & Distilling Sunday that saw a variety of artists selling their wares.
The youngest entrepreneur was Lexi Shymanski, 9, who was selling her wooden coasters she makes with help from her dad, Travis.
Residents of Prince George may remember Lexi as the little hero who saved her family when she was five years old. When the vehicle they were in went off an embankment during the trip home from a vacation left her mom, Angela, trapped and unconscious and baby brother Peter, then 10 weeks old, still in his car seat, Lexi unstrapped her five-point harness and scampered barefoot up to the road to flag down a passerby to get help.
It's been bit of a long road to recovery for Angela and Peter but moving forward is how this family works best. Angela has always had the entrepreneurial spirit and believes it's never too early to instill some business sense into her children.
It all started when Lexi and Travis were walking in the woods and a fallen tree got Lexi's attention because in the centre of it was a shape of a star.
Travis brought home the broken trunk of the tree and dried it out and then the idea came about that coasters would be the perfect way to showcase the tree's unique and beautiful flaw. Along with the coasters the family makes and sells cutting boards and other handmade wooden items, while Peter, at four years old, makes home-baked dog cookies.
"All the money goes into our jar for when we go to Mexico," Lexi explained.
It's filling up fast.
"We get to buy all our souvenirs with the money we've saved. Peter and I put our piggy bank money in there, too."
Rosie Hamilton is the administrative assistant slash event coordinator at Trench Brewing and she said when organizer Heise asked for help it became clear that grabbing a drink and a meal and shopping at the same time was a great idea.
Each vendor paid $25 as their entry fee into the fair and those proceeds will go to a local charity, as yet to be determined. Lexy paid her fee from her own money, knowing that giving back to the community is very important.
