Instead of lemonade, Kasson family selling masks

With the COVID-19 pandemic still going on, this did not seem like a good summer to operate a neighborhood lemonade stand. So what are youngsters who want to make a few dollars to do? That’s simple, set up a stand in the driveway selling face masks.
The Harris children, Luke, 8, Landon, 6, and Addelyn, who will turn 4 this weekend, all have big dreams, said their mother Annie Harris. According to their mother, Luke is saving for a camera and Landon wants a touch screen chromebook.  Addelyn’s plans are not real organized yet, though her mother said she did say she would like “17 babies.”
Nonetheless, it did seem like a good way for the boys to learn the value of money and working for it. And having a supply of masks was not really a problem.
Harris explained that she started early on by making pleated masks for her family. But she did not think they fit very well and she realized that masks were not going to be going away soon, and they needed to be washed often, she looked for more contoured styles.
She found a few patterns, she said, and originally she was going to make a bunch of masks for herself, her husband, Greg, and the kids. But they didn’t all want the same pattern and she bought more fabric.
As you can imagine the project just grew. And soon Harris had enlisted not only her husband and kids but also her parents, Chris and Andy Overend and mother-in-law Joyce Harris, into what she laughingly refers to as “the sweatshop.”
Everybody is helping and the kids have been selling them from a table in the driveway. They will be there again this weekend, hoping to pick up some traffic from those heading to Mantorville Days, the Kasson Kabin Fall Junk Sale and other garage sales planned in Kasson.
The masks are selling for $8, Harris said, with each child earning $1 per mask. The rest, she said, goes to keep “the sweatshop” in supplies.
She said masks come in preschool, elementary and adult sizes with a variety of themes and patterns. Kids masks come with a variety of superheroes, animals, dinosaurs, Disney princess, mermaids, vehicles and more. For the older group there are Vikings, Packers, Wild, Army, Marines, Hawkeyes, Badgers among others. The fabric has been prewashed, she said, and there is a removal nosepiece that slides in and out.
The masks are certainly not the first sewing creations for Harris.
“I’ve been a sewer for a long time,” she said, and often make the kids Halloween costumes.
It takes about 40 minutes to make a face mask, she said.
“It’s a family affair,” she said. The kids help with the nosepieces and ear loops, she said, and Greg will help with the ear loops and has even done a little inside hemming.
School is starting this week, she said, but the Harris’ have decided that for this year they are going to home school the boys.
“We elected to homeschool,” she said. That gives us a little more control than doing the distance learning, she said. They had a sample of it in the spring, Harris said, and the youngsters still remember what they learned.
“We’re very happy to give them this opportunity,” she said.
The family will be in their driveway at 1308 4th St. NW, Kasson, selling masks on Friday, Sept. 11, and Saturday, Sept. 12. There will be lime green signs giving directions.