SHREWSBURY – Lemonade stands hosted by the Armstrong family of Old Mill Road had special visitors stop by for pink and yellow lemonade and frosted cupcakes.
Joshua and Emma, the children of Amy Armstrong, hosted the lemonade stand at their home on July 27 and on Main Street Aug. 12 to save up for a bike and a baby doll.
After posting about it on Facebook, over a hundred people stopped by the first stand and many more rolled up for the second lemonade sale, including the Shrewsbury Police Department.
“They [the police officers] came with their lights on and the kids loved it,” Armstrong said.
Andrea Castinetti welcomed the Armstrongs to hold their second lemonade stand outside of her office on Main Street, as it is busier than their neighborhood.
Castinetti said she invited the Armstrongs to set up the stand outside of her office because she loves to support young entrepreneurs.
Amy and Joshua explained that in addition to saving up for the bike and baby doll, they wanted to start the stand to bring the community together for lemonade and cupcakes.
They spent two days in the kitchen getting the cupcakes ready for sale. Amy baked and frosted the cupcakes with brightly colored frosting. Joshua and Emma added sprinkles for the finishing touch.
A family effort, their grandmother Pat Godfrey participated by helping to distribute the lemonade to their thirsty customers.
“I think it [the lemonade stand] teaches him responsibility and he gets to meet people,” she said.
The first time the Armstrongs held a lemonade stand the entire day shift of Shrewsbury officers showed up to offer their support.
Now, during the second lemonade stand the officers surprised Joshua and Emma with Shrewsbury police t-shirts and gifted Joshua a helmet for his bike.
Officer Christopher Abbascia said the police officers stopped by the stand because they believe interacting with Shrewsbury residents is an important part of serving as police officers.
“Community engagement is one of the most important things we can do as police officers. We want to give back to them any time we can, which is rewarding for us, too. We love doing it,” he said.
Like Abbascia, Sergeant Ryan Bradley said he believes that the police attending the lemonade stand is important for building community relations.
Bradley added that he’s a fan of the cupcakes.
“I tried the chocolate cupcake and it was delicious,” he said.
RELATED CONTENT
Lemonade and sunshine in Shrewsbury
Shrewsbury students raise money for Red Cross following tornados
