When life gives you lemons, make lemonade. Generally, that proverb means to make the most out of a difficult situation. In the case of Kitty Kat Concessions, that is exactly what Mary and Joe Pachorkowsky of Franklin Township did.

Almost four years ago, Mary and Joe traveled to Tennessee to purchase a lemonade cart, hoping to start up a side business. That did not happen right away.

“We never got a chance to use it,” Mary explained. “Joe was working in Baltimore, so he was only home Friday night until Sunday.”

Then last year, Joe had some medical problems which resulted in him spending 22 days in a hospital in Maryland.

“We knew he wouldn’t be able to go back to work doing what he used to do. So we kind of made lemonade out of lemons.”

Remembering the lemonade cart, they started by making fresh-squeezed lemonade and selling it at area festivals and events.

“We started with lemonade. Then people would say, ‘you should do this’ or ‘you should do that’,” Mary explained.

Eventually, they added orangeade and tomato pie, plus home-baked cookies to the menu.

What do they love the most about their own business?

“The people,” Mary exclaimed. “This is my favorite part. I mean, when I was baking everything this morning, I wasn’t too happy. But, I love the people. This makes it all worthwhile. It’s worth the effort. I just said to Joe actually last night, we may not have all the money in the world; but, we’ve been blessed in so many ways. You know, we’re very lucky.”

The name for the business stemmed from Joe Pachorkowsky’s other venture. He is also the owner of “Pyro Joe” for more than 15 years.

“There is a brand of firework he likes called Black Cat. Two of our cats are black, so we decided on the name in honor of them as a dba of Pyro Joe LLC,” Mary said.

“The cat in our logo is holding a sparkler, sort of a homage. We like to say that Kitty Kat is Pyro Joe’s alter ego.”

He produces many of the fireworks displays in the area, and won “Best Fireworks Category” in the 2023 Readers Choice competition.

My husband has owned a pyrotechnics company for over 15 years.