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Chester County Press

Finding inspiration in Kennett Square

09/13/2016 11:34AM ● By Steven Hoffman

During the Kennett football team's first home game on Sept. 2, the Kennett school community honored Grayson Savery, a first-grader at New Garden Elementary, and his brother, Aydan, a second-grader at the school.

Grayson was diagnosed with a form of pediatric brain cancer, medullary fibrillary astrocytoma, on Oct. 31, 2012. Since that time, the Kennett community has been inspired by Grayson’s courageous fight against pediatric brain cancer. His tumor is enmeshed in the brain stem, the part of the base of the brain that is connected to the spinal cord and controls the flow of messages between the brain and the rest of the body. Grayson underwent a total of 18 months of weekly chemotherapy at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. The tumor is currently stable. With all due respect to the football players on both the Kennett and Chichester football teams who were playing on Sept. 2, there was no question about who was the toughest person on the field when Grayson and Aydan led the home team out to mid-field for the start of the game.

The Savery brothers not only got to lead the football team on the field, there were special activities at halftime, too. Not only did the Kennett school community show its support for Grayson, the football team, cheerleaders, and the band from Chichester also presented the inspirational youngster with gifts.

The tribute to Grayson was also a timely reminder that September is Childhood Cancer Awareness Month.

This is not the first time that the Kennett school community has united to support one of its own. Just last spring, a high school student, John Paul Dean, was diagnosed with stage four non-Hodgkins lymphoma, and the community rallied around him as well.

The Kennett school community's actions were heartfelt and very classy—as they usually are.

While we're on the subject of Kennett Square, it was a very busy week for the town. The third and final public forum regarding the economic development study took place last Thursday. The study, which is a collaboration between the borough and neighboring Kennett Township, described a community that is already strong and vibrant—and has a very bright future full of potential. Simply put, Kennett Square is a place where people want to locate their businesses, and it's also a place that people want to call home.

It's easy to understand why. The Kennett Square community is a very giving community. Consider that the wonderful Mushroom Festival, which took place this past weekend, not only showcases the town in a very positive way, it also raises money that is poured right back in the community to support dozens of non-profit organizations each year.

How generous and caring are the citizens of Kennett Square? Mayor Matthew Fetick said during the public forum that he was recently approached by a group wanting to start a new service organization. They asked about an area of need in the community, and Fetick said that he had a hard time coming up with one specific area of need because there are already 32 non-profit organizations currently at work that consistently provide services to local residents in need. That says a lot about the Kennett Square area.