There was no grand plan when Dion and Dan Gemmiti first came up with the idea.
The brothers were working on Brealey Drive when people driving past began honking their horns and waving. It was a familiar Peterborough moment, the kind that makes you stop and appreciate the community around you.
Then came a simple thought.
“Let's do a lemonade stand.”
The next question was where the money should go.
Dan didn't hesitate.
“SickKids Hospital,” he said.
Five years later, that spontaneous idea has become an annual gathering at Westdale United Church, with family, friends, local businesses and community members coming together to support SickKids.
And on Friday morning, the Gemmiti family was once again surrounded by the people who have helped make the event what it is.
“SickKids is very near and dear to our family for personal reasons,” Dan said. “And then we just watched it for year after year. And now we're hearing everyone's story, five years of hearing their stories of SickKids and what it means to them. That's our charity of choice. Absolutely.”
The support has grown significantly since that first lemonade stand.
The inaugural event raised just over $2,000.
“If you want to see two big guys dance, Dion and I were dancing like we just made $2,000,” Dan joked.
Five years later, the event has raised nearly $17,000 for SickKids, with Friday's total still to be counted.
Dion said the response from Peterborough has been remarkable, particularly from the local business community.
“The business community in Peterborough has been phenomenal,” he said. “The network of Peterborough that we're connected to have just been so generous and stopping by, bringing checks. And it's just, we're just so grateful.”
Every dollar raised goes to SickKids.
This year's event also featured breakfast hot dogs, homemade cookies and plenty of familiar faces stopping in throughout the morning.
The cookies come with their own Gemmiti family rivalry.
Dion and Dan traditionally bake cookies for their open houses, and the two brothers have turned it into a friendly competition at the lemonade stand.
Dan had one request for the people stopping by.
“Would somebody please tell Dion his cookies are better than mine?” he said.
The verdict, at least from Friday morning's taste test, wasn't exactly what Dan was hoping for.
But the competition was all part of the fun.
For the Gemmitis, the lemonade stand is about much more than what is being served from the tables. It's about the people who keep showing up year after year.
“Peterborough is home,” Dion said. “It is the most specialest place on earth.”
The Gemmiti family has deep roots in the community. Their father, Quinty, started his business in Peterborough 60 years ago, Quinty the Taylor, and the family has built its careers, businesses and lives here.
“We have all had our careers, our livelihoods, raised our kids here,” Dion said. “Dad started his business, you know, 60 years ago in Peterborough. It's been just very good to us. We're all in the service business and we're just so grateful to be in this community.”
That sense of family extends beyond the Gemmitis themselves.
Dan pointed to the younger generation, now in their 20s, who have become part of the event and what he hopes will become its lasting legacy.
“These young, our young kids that are in now 20s and stuff like that, they're going to take this over,” he said. “It'll be a legacy.”
And while the cause is serious, the atmosphere surrounding the lemonade stand is anything but solemn.
Family and friends gathered throughout the morning. People danced. Others showed up in clown costumes. There was laughter, food and plenty of energy.
“We're so blessed,” Dan said. “We really are.”
Five years after two brothers decided, almost on a whim, to set up a lemonade stand, the idea has become something much bigger.
It has become another example of what happens when a community decides to show up for one another.
And for Dion and Dan Gemmiti, that's exactly what Peterborough has continued to do.
