NATCHEZ — In just nine years time, 14-year-old Mae Holyoak of Mae and Friends Lemonade Stand fame has gone from seeking to raise $75 in year one to $14,000 in year nine for the Natchez-Adams County Humane Society.

The lemonade stand has changed a lot during in that time, too. Mae said that first year, it was just Mae, her mother, Ginna, one table with a toy plastic cash register and some stuffed dogs and cats for decorations. They were under a balcony overhang at Dunleith, had two jugs of lemonade, and they served maybe 30 people, making about $300.

“People were like, ‘Oh my gosh, you made $300 from a lemonade stand?’” Mae said. “We were just trying to make enough money to buy a $75 bed. We were able to buy three beds!”

Mae said her mother brought up the idea that first year, but she loved it.

“My whole life I have grown up with animals,” Mae said. “Everywhere I go, I see strays or animals not really taken care of, and I want all animals to be treated as well as our family and friends’ animals.”

And Mae said the lemonade stand is here to stay for awhile. When she goes off to college, she’ll be coming back to Natchez for her lemonade stand, she said.

“We’ll be little old grandmas out there with a lemonade stand one day,” Mae said, laughing. “It’s just magical. I never dreamed that we’d be where we are today, having raised close to $45,000 for the humane society.”

Over the years, Mae said there has been a lot of growth with the stand to get to that dream figure.

“It was just Mae’s Lemonade Stand that first year,” she said. “We didn’t even come up with Mae and Friends Lemonade Stand. People just started calling it that, and we were like, ‘OK, that works.’”

This past year, Mae said she served more than 200 people and raised just under $13,000. The stand was several tables long at the Natchez Convention Center during the Natchez Food and Wine Festival. The stand had many baked goods, donated items for sale, arts and crafts and her father, John Holyoak, even served as a DJ with some music.

“During the second year, Mae had some friends join her at the stand,” Ginna said. “And people started baking goods for us. We took what we were given.

“In the third or fourth year, we moved to the convention center for the Food and Wine Festival, and they also promoted us.”

For the upcoming ninth year, Mae said it is going to be the biggest year yet. Or at least the biggest one until year 10, Mae added.

On top of lemonade and baked goods, which include cookies and cupcakes, fresh produce will be offered this year. The girls will also sell donated arts and crafts from the community —including ceramic paws with NACHS logos from Natchez Pottery Studios — and T-shirts, and perhaps biggest of all, they’ve added a Jack Russell Terrier kissing booth featuring Hank Holyoak.

“He will give you a minimum of five kisses a second,” Mae said, laughing.

Ginna said they are hoping to provide funds to build a fenced in dog park at the shelter. That way, she said, some of the dogs can get a chance to stretch their legs outside of the kennels even when not being walked.

Ginna said the shelter needs more volunteers to do things like dog walking. She also encouraged people to sign up for the humane society’s monthly debit. Ginna said the organization is looking to find people interested in making $5, $10 or $20 a month donations to help fund daily operations.

“If they were not constantly doing fundraisers just to pay the bills, they could do a lot more,” Ginna said.

The shelter also needs more people to provide foster homes for recovering or pregnant animals, Ginna said.

The children who get involved with the stand are learning to become future shelter volunteers, Mae said.

“I think it teaches kids to have a good work ethic,” she said. “It also teaches them to love working for their community and about volunteering and doing good for charity.”

Mae said she hoped people would stop by the stand, which will be from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Friday, July 29.

The lemonade stand gets a steady supply of visitors throughout the day, but Mae said there is one particular time each year in the afternoon when it’s almost like a celebration.

“My favorite part is when it gets a little noisy because of all the people hanging around drinking their lemonade and eating cookies,” she said. “There is music going, and it’s kind of like a party.”

Ginna said the event is special to her, as well.

“We don’t have the means to give $13,000 a year,” she said. “But with just a little bit of effort, we can help raise that much money, and I think now the humane society pretty much depends on it.”