{"id":423610,"date":"2025-04-23T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-04-23T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=423610"},"modified":"2025-04-23T22:33:47","modified_gmt":"2025-04-23T22:33:47","slug":"lemonade-dayyouth-squeeze-out-competition-in-fort-cavazos-area","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=423610","title":{"rendered":"Lemonade Day:\nYouth squeeze out competition in Fort Cavazos area"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n Command Sgt. Maj. Loyd Rhoades, U.S. Army Garrison-Fort Cavazos command sergeant major, tries a cup of purple-hued lemonade created by Nadiya Byrd, 10, of \u201cGalaxy Lemonade,\u201d while Trisha Stutz, member of the Fort Cavazos Area Lemonade Day advisory council and marketing manager for Area 254 in Killeen, Texas, assists Rhoades during the Best Tasting event April 19, 2025, at the Franklin & Emily Pratt Learning and Leadership Center in Killeen.
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\n Chris Albus, Cavalry Family Housing project manager, tries a cup of strawberry honey lemonade from Julia Henson, 10, in back, and her sister Hannah Henson, 8, of \u201clemon sweetness Lemonade\u201d during the Best Tasting event April 19, 2025, at the Franklin & Emily Pratt Learning and Leadership Center in Killeen, Texas.
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KILLEEN, Texas<\/strong> \u2014 Young entrepreneurs gathered April 19 for the Best Tasting event at the Franklin & Emily Pratt Learning and Leadership Center.<\/p>\n

It was an opportunity to check out the competition and, ultimately, decide whose lemonade reigns supreme, just ahead of Lemonade Day May 3-4.<\/p>\n

The competition is part of a series of activities that included conceptualizing a design for the lemonade stand, learning to make lemonade from the experts at Chick-fil-A in
Copperas Cove and building a stand with supplies and assistance from professionals at Heights Lumber & Supply Inc. in Harker Heights.<\/p>\n

Command Sgt. Maj. Loyd Rhoades, U.S. Army Garrison-Fort Cavazos command sergeant major; Chris Albus, Cavalry Family Housing project manager; Killeen Mayor Debbie Nash-King; Copperas Cove Mayor Dan Yancey; Harker Heights Mayor Michael Blomquist; Bryan Ruiz, H-E-B partner; and Jeffery Reed, Raising Cane\u2019s partner, had the honor of judging the competition, a task Albus said becomes more challenging each year.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese young entrepreneurs just get more and more confident every year,\u201d he said. \u201cTheir product improves every year. It really does inspire young people to strive to develop that entrepreneurial spirit, and that\u2019s what it\u2019s all about.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nash-King agreed, praising the young entrepreneurs for their efforts.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am very proud of the young people that are here today, and any kind of way the city of Killeen can continue to support them in their unique endeavors to become business owners in the future, we are here for them,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

The youths were judged in three categories: Best Overall, Most Unique and Best Presentation. Barbara Henson and her children Julia, 10; Hannah, 8; and Zachary, 5, of \u201clemon sweetness Lemonade,\u201d combined flavors from last year\u2019s strawberry lemonade with coconut water and raspberry lemonade with honey to create this year\u2019s strawberry
honey lemonade.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s our specialty, is that it\u2019s strawberry lemonade with the honey in there,\u201d
Barbara said.<\/p>\n

She added the entrepreneurial lessons learned from the event are invaluable.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat is why we do this,\u201d she said. \u201cThe entrepreneurial aspect of it\u00ad \u2014 <\/strong>we love
that. We look forward to this every year now that we\u2019ve started doing it and it\u2019s such a blessing.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAbby\u2019s Lemonade Surprise,\u201d named after 6-year-old Abigail Smith, also participated last year, but impressed the judges this year with the elaborate presentation of juicing lemons and mixing each custom beverage to order and homemade cookies, earning her the title of Most Unique.<\/p>\n

\u201cCoLe\u2019s Mango Blast Lemonade,\u201d manned by her big brothers Caleb Smith, 16, and Connor Smith, 15, scored points for creativity and presentation as well.<\/p>\n

The duo served a blend of freshly squeezed lemonade, a pineapple mango juice mix, fresh diced pineapple and mango and a drizzle of Chamoy, finished with a rim of Tajin, inspired by a tropical drink served in a pineapple they enjoyed while in Florida.<\/p>\n

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\n From left, brothers Connor Smith, 15, and Caleb Smith, 16, of \u201cCoLe\u2019s Mango Blast Lemonade,\u201d joke with Killeen Independent School District Community Relations Director Angenet Wilkerson, during the Best Tasting event April 19, 2025, at the Franklin & Emily Pratt Learning and Leadership Center in Killeen, Texas.
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\n Command Sgt. Maj. Loyd Rhoades, U.S. Army Garrison-Fort Cavazos command sergeant major, poses with participants of this year\u2019s Best Tasting event April 19, 2025, at the Franklin & Emily Pratt Learning and Leadership Center in Killeen, Texas.
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1st Sgt. Marcus Smith-McGee, 510th Combat Engineer Company-Armored, 20th Engineer Battalion, 36th Engineer Brigade, father of Abigail, Cole and Conner, said having his family involved in the event connects them with one another, but also with the community. His wife Paula Smith-McGee and oldest son Isaiah Smith
also participated.<\/p>\n

\u201cCommunity involvement with the family will help them continue to stay together, to love each other and to be a big part of the community themselves,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He added the event is a \u201ccreative tool\u201d to bolster entrepreneurship, as well as a fundraising opportunity for his family, with \u201cAbby\u2019s Lemonade Surprise\u201d supporting Army Emergency Relief and \u201cCoLe\u2019s Mango Blast Lemonade\u201d supporting Boy Scouts of America.<\/p>\n

Nadiya Byrd, 10, also believes in giving back, supporting Central Texas Theatre selling her \u201cGalaxy Lemonade.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe call it Galaxy Lemonade because it is out of this world,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Freshly squeezed lemonade flavored with strawberry or blueberry, mixed with edible glitter that revealed shades of purple, pink, blue and green, earned Nadiya the title of Best Overall.<\/p>\n

She explained the inspiration for her lemonade stand stems from her aspirations of attending Space Camp and becoming a NASA engineer.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was like, \u2018Why not base it on one of my dreams?\u2019\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Rhoades applauded Nadiya and her peers for their ambition.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe young lady over here \u2014 she\u2019s 10 years old,\u201d he said. \u201cShe wants to go to astronaut camp this summer in Alabama. The two gentlemen are in 10th grade; they want to go to Boy Scout camp here in Texas this summer, so it\u2019s helping them understand the importance of raising funds. Basically, they\u2019re chasing their dreams.\u201d<\/p>\n

Best Presentation was awarded to Trinity Barker, 9, of \u201cTrinity\u2019s Unique Lemonade.\u201d<\/p>\n

The young entrepreneurs will officially open for business on Lemonade Day
May 3-4 all over the Fort Cavazos area.<\/p>\n

Visit local.lemonadeday.org\/fort-cavazos-area <\/em>for more information.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

1 \/ 2 Show Caption + Hide Caption \u2013 Command Sgt. Maj. Loyd Rhoades, U.S. Army Garrison-Fort Cavazos command sergeant major, tries a cup of purple-hued lemonade created by Nadiya Byrd, 10, of \u201cGalaxy Lemonade,\u201d while Trisha Stutz, member of the Fort Cavazos Area Lemonade Day advisory council and marketing manager for Area 254 in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":423612,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-423610","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/423610","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=423610"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/423610\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":423617,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/423610\/revisions\/423617"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/423612"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=423610"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=423610"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=423610"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}