Water Aid: Children Sell Lemonade To Help Preserve Water Tower

FRANKFORT, IL — When something is part of a local landscape for more than 100 years, that something might be taken for granted that it will always be there. The Petrow family of Frankfort knows that is not always the case, and the family has been doing their part to help preserve one of Frankfort’s most recognizable landmarks: the old water tower in the downtown district.

“It gives you a sense of place, and that people have come before you and people will come after you,” Jessica Petrow said. “And, so, a staple like that, we really need to think twice before saying, ‘Oh, we’re just going to take that down.’”

The way in which the Petrows choose to help save the landmark may not be big and flashy, but their fundraising efforts embody that charm that is part of what makes Frankfort what it is. Jessica Petrow’s children — Carsyn, 12; Harper, 9; and Cal, 5 — sell lemonade, and with each sale they get a little closer to preserving the water tower for another generation.

During Frankfort’s Fall Fest earlier this month, the Petrow siblings raised $151.30 selling lemonade at the Fest and presented the funds to the Frankfort Preservation Foundation.

The water tower was built in 1915, according to information from the Frankfort Historical Society. After more than 100 years of paint jobs, the water tower now needs to be stripped to its bare metal and repainted again at an estimated cost of $500,000, according to the Frankfort Historical Society. The group's GoFundMe page has raised $40,556 toward that goal to date.

Carsyn, Harper and Cal are fifth-generation Frankfort residents, and the siblings’ great-grandparents still live in Frankfort.

The siblings’ father, Ryan Petrow, made the lemonade stand for them in 2018 when the Save Frankfort Water Tower GoFundMe campaign was started by the Frankfort Historical Society.

When Jessica Petrow’s grandmother received a postcard in 2018 from the Frankfort Preservation Foundation, which is part of the Frankfort Historical Society, the family matriarch called her two sons and told them they needed to donate the requested $26 to help save the water tower.

“She was like, ‘You need to do your duty to save this. You need to donate the $26,’” Jessica Petrow said. “It’s $26. We spend that at McDonalds. So, I think it just became something we started to talk about. We also live downtown. We see it. It’s part of the narrative. It’s part of the pictures and the streetscape, so the kids are super in tune to it. And what more fun way [to contribute] than a lemonade stand.”

And the family has kept up with the request ever since.

So, what keeps the Petrows in Frankfort for five generations?

“Everything,” Jessica Petrow, who serves on the Frankfort Board of Trustees, said. “I think it’s an amazing community to live in and raise your family. A long time ago I read this article about what are the happiest places. One of them, I think at that time, was Asheville, North Carolina. And what they talked about was the number one drive was sense of community. And I feel like Frankfort is that. When you live in Frankfort, you do still have that small-town sense of community where you can come into the neighborhood and you have blends of demographics and people supporting each other in their different adventures. There’s lots of growth still.”

She added that even with the growth the town has not forgotten its roots.

“There’s still the charm. It’s the charm factor that Frankfort has stayed true to,” she said. “And along with that charm factor comes a bit of small-town feel in a little bit of a bigger suburb. But, I think Frankfort and its residents have done a really good job to keep that and protect it in a way.”

Donations to the Save Frankfort Water Tower can be made via the group’s GoFundMe page.

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