A beautiful summer night wouldn’t be complete without lemonade. And the Washingtonville community wouldn’t be itself unless it came out in droves to support a child’s stand.

On the Aug. 24 Date Night of this summer’s season, $642 was raised for the Pediatric Hydrocephalus Foundation through Washingtonville resident Brayden Thew, who served regular and pink lemonade with all of the proceeds going to the foundation that helped save his life. “Brayden was diagnosed at 11 days old with hydrocephalus,” his mom Cassandra said, “an incurable brain condition, and had seven brain surgeries by the time he was five years old. The Pediatric Hydrocephalus Foundation had given us a tight community when we felt so alone and had become like family to us.” So when Brayden held a small lemonade stand on his road this summer and wanted to give the full $12 he had made to the foundation, his mom was floored — and thought about how to grow the idea.

Which is when the community immediately stepped in and the Washingtonville Community Events Team, Betty’s Country Kitchen, J. Hoffman Insurance, and Hudson Heritage Realty all worked to make this idea a reality by suggesting Brayden set up his stand at the last Date Night of the season at Vern Allen Park (and providing the resources to do so), where children and adults played and socialized, and even danced for prizes, as tunes were spun by Washingtonville’s own Jeffrey Blizard of That’s EnterTOONment until the outdoor movie, Despicable Me 3, was played and gallons of lemonade was enjoyed by everyone.

Congratulations to Brayden, his family, and the Washingtonville community for just being itself and supporting a child and a cause. For more information on hydrocephalus, go to http://www.HydrocephalusKids.org.

The closing Date Night of the season will be in September (date to be determined) as a rescheduling of the one evening in July that had been rained out.

CAPTION 1: Brayden Thew serves up the sweet stuff to a customer at last week’s Date Night in Washingtonville. (Photo by Eugenia Moskowitz)

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