After borrowing money for her son A.J., Sadie Stokes opened up Sadie’s Corn Dogs and Fresh Lemonade stands, which soon became one of the most popular food spots in the area in the 70s.

Sadie’s Corn Dogs and Fresh Lemonade was located on the side of Western Auto at Center and Admiral Doyle, then she moved to the parking lot of Howard Brothers on St. Peter.

Now 92, Stokes still remembers the customers she once served, the friends she made and the memories that are still with her to this day.

“Perhaps the job everybody remembers most is the corn dog stand,” Stokes said. “Maybe because everyone wanted the executive corn dog recipe.”

The corn dogs were famous in the Teche Area for their sweet taste, and according to Stokes, she achieved this by substituting buttermilk in the cornbread mix.

“You want to know the secret, just add buttermilk,” Stokes said. “It was just a 50-pound bag of cornbread mix.”

The lemonade sold for 25 cents and corn dogs for 60 cents when she opened up her shop, which she worked at Monday to Saturday.

Stokes also made fresh lemonade, hand-squeezing lemons each and every day. She would even make homemade chili for pies and hotdogs, but the fresh lemonade and sweet corn dogs were the favorites.

“It was just the customers’ favorite,” Stokes said. “There would be a line at noon every day but Sunday.”

Before opening up her corn dog and lemonade stand, Stokes worked for Hugh Winston at the Echo Drive-In on Jane Street.

Winston owned the stand for five years prior to Stokes buying it with the money she borrowed from her son.

After buying the corn dog and lemonade stand from Winston, Stokes worked there for 11 more years until the early 1980s.

Stokes did all of the cooking and her daughters Kitty and Stephanie, helped when they were out of school, as did her husband, Smokey.

Stokes remembers the winters and summers working her stand in New Iberia.

“We froze in the winter and smothered in the summer because it didn’t have heat or electricity,” Stokes said. “It was so cold the weather broke my pipes one year.”

While she was there, Stokes always enjoyed coming into work every day and meeting new people.

“All of my customers were like my family,” Stokes said. “I met great friends and had great conversations.”