LEWISTON — Four months after she gained statewide attention for setting up a lemonade stand to raise money for her best friend’s funeral, Takota Pelletier has settled back into the life of a normal fourth-grader. Albeit, a fourth-grader who still grieves for her friend.

“I was actually crying a couple of days ago because I missed her,” she said. “I
usually grab one of my teddy bears and just sit in a corner. I usually
cry a lot when I get emotional.”

On Aug. 17, 9-year-old Taylor McQueeney was killed in a River Street apartment fire in Lewiston. Taylor and Takota had been classmates at Montello Elementary School.

Trying to find an outlet for her grief, Takota’s mother suggested she lead a fundraiser for Taylor’s family. A day after the fire, Takota and another friend, Taylor Ward, mixed a pitcher of lemonade
and set up a small plastic table outside Takota’s home at the corner of Pine
and Bradley streets. She raised $47.

The next day, when her story appeared in the Sun Journal, people began arriving at her stand in droves with donations, hugs, cards and blessings. Some gave her cash to spend on herself and one person gave her a gift card to a local bookstore. Takota raised about $3,000 for Taylor’s funeral.

The attention has since died down. Takota said she gave all $3,000 to Taylor’s family for memorial and funeral expenses. She spent the $120 or so given to her on school clothes and other items. She hasn’t yet used the gift card — the family has no car and she’s still trying to coordinate schedules with those who offered to take her.

Looking back, she’s glad she started the lemonade stand.

“I feel really proud of myself and my mom because my mom’s the one who really encouraged me to do it,” she said.

Takota and Taylor had talked about becoming veterinarians when they grew up. Takota now thinks she may want to be a doctor, a career similar to the one she’d dreamed of with Taylor, but not exactly the same.

But whatever her future holds, she believes it will be different without Taylor.

“She used to be there by my side, and I used to tell her secrets,” Takota said. “It’s going to be kind of different without her being there, me not being able to tell somebody my secrets. Well, not somebody that I trust, anyway.”

— Lindsay Tice, Staff Writer

Takota Pelletier, 10, left, waits for customers at the lemonade stand she set up at her home on Pine Street in Lewiston Tuesday morning to help raise money for the family of her classmate, Taylor McQueeney, who died in a fire early Monday morning in Lewiston. At right is her sister, Baronica Pelletier-Boisvert, 2.