Ready for rodeo: Sodas team launches themed drinks
Left to right, Avery Palmer, Iris Jenks, Moses Lake Roundup Queen Mykiah Hollenbeck, Berlynn Jenks and Ella Palmer stand together outside the Herald office after delivering a special rodeo-themed soda to Hollenbeck on Thursday.
Casey McCarthy/Columbia Basin Herald
Teen owners of Silly Sodas, a new Italian soda booth at the Moses Lake Farmers Market this year, stopped by the Columbia Basin Herald office Thursday afternoon to talk about their special rodeo-themed sodas and deliver a special one to Moses Lake Roundup Queen Mykiah Hollenbeck.
The Moses Lake Roundup opens Aug. 17, with the first night of the Demo Derby.
Silly Sodas was founded by four “BFFs,” Iris Jenks, 13, Ella Palmer, 12, Avery Palmer, 12, and Berlynn Jenks, 11, after the four grew bored during the pandemic.
The four said they have a variety of different flavors, such as “Mermaid Magic” and “Tropical Sunset.” Ella Palmer said the flavors come about from a lot of experimenting and taste-testing.
With the rodeo on the horizon, the Silly Soda gals have come up with four “rodeo” flavors to promote the Saturday before and after the Grant County Fair. “Rodeo Queen Bling” is a mix of peach and passionfruit, the two favorite flavors of the Roundup Queen.
“Crazy Cowboy,” “Howdy Huckleberry” and “Bucking Blackberry Bronco” are the other three promotional flavors available at the Farmers Market rodeo weekends, with a dollar off sodas the weekend before the rodeo, Aug. 14.
Ella Palmer said funds from the soda stand are going toward the four’s college funds, in addition to raising money for an educational trip with her mom, Sara Palmer, through Frontier Middle School next summer to Greece and Italy.
Sue Tebow, marketing specialist for Moses Lake Roundup, said the rodeo grounds are being prepared for the upcoming events. Something new this year for the Roundup will be a second night of the Demo Derby.