The hand-painted yard signs pointed the way to a slice of summertime paradise. The destination: Katie and Eric's Vegetable Stand.

Katie is 10. Eric's 13. They're the blonde-haired, blue-eyed children of Greg and Lee Leist.

The Summer Tour found the exceedingly polite brother and sister happily hard at work. They had just begun their daily 2-5 p.m. shift at their stand. That's where they sell produce and dispense wisdom while being productive citizens and raising money for the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation.

Katie and Eric Leist man their fruit and vegetable stand in front of their Landen home Thursday. (Michael Snyder photo) | ZOOM |

The afternoon temperature soared past 90 degrees. So Eric and Katie sought the shade of a pair of gum trees in the front yard of their Bookmark Place home in the Landen area of Warren County.

They sat side by side, like seasoned farmers taking a break, in the favorite lawn chairs and in the usual places, Katie at Eric's right.

Both spoke while they worked. Holding kitchen towels, they gently shined the Big Boy tomatoes they planted, raised, watered, weeded and picked on their Grandma Leist's farm in Indiana.

"The farm's been in the family for over 100 years," Katie said.

Make that 106 years to be exact. Eric likes to be exact. He knows "tomatoes are a fruit. But we still just call this a vegetable stand."

He returned a gleaming Big Boy to its basket. Then he reached for another red whopper in need of a shine.

A fleet of tomato baskets rested atop two picnic-table benches. A plastic tablecloth, decorated with a red apple pattern, covered the benches.

Joining the tomatoes were baskets stuffed with zucchini and cucumbers. All from the family farm.

A lone basket sat empty. Minutes before, it had been piled high with green peppers the size of softballs.

"Someone came while we were inside getting some lemonade," Katie said. "They got the peppers, saw our price list, left the money and took a bag from Honey, the Bag Lady."

Honey is a doll. She guards the stand and hides plastic bags under her hoop skirt.

The pepper purchaser paid by the honor system. Lots of people do.

"They are our regular customers," Katie noted. "And this is a quiet little neighborhood." Honest, too.

Katie and Eric are in their fifth summer of running their stand and raising money for a good cause.

"My brother's second-grade teacher's granddaughter has a brain tumor," Katie said. "We decided to raise money with our produce and send the profits to the Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation to help out those kids."

So far this summer, the stand has earned $106. Eric knows he and his sister could blow that money on a pizza party. But they prefer to donate their profits to charity.

"It just makes you feel better," he said. "And now, I have a friend in school who also has cancer. So, it's sort of donating to fight what he's got, too."

Between customers, Eric talks with Katie "about how we've been doing lately or about school coming up. We bring out books. I read one this summer about all the baseball parks past and present."

Katie brings fans to keep them cool. When business is really slow, she sets up "a lounge chair to get a little tan."

Eric and Katie know why they spend their time at the stand. They'd rather be selling vegetables than lolling in air conditioning or lounging at a pool.

"This stand teaches you to persevere for a goal," Eric said. "It can be really hot out here. But, you have to stay with it. You just can't take the stuff in and say, 'Oops! We're not going to do it today.' "

Katie politely waited her turn while her brother spoke. When he fell quiet, she began.

"It gets involved out here," she said. She listed the things they do. Make change. Weigh produce on the same scale where they were weighed as babies. Bag the purchases. Thank the customers.

Katie sighed as she admitted, "There are so many things to do. But you learn the responsibility of taking care of things. It teaches kids to believe in themselves."

Looking up from arranging a basket of cucumbers, she shared one more thought.

"You learn you can do anything you want," she said, "if you put your mind to it."

Five facts about Warren County

•  Population: 158,383.

•  Motto: The Incredible County.

•  Established: March 24, 1803, from a portion of Hamilton County. For information on Warren Country's bicentennial, consult the Web site (www.warren200.com) .

•  Place name origins: Warren County is named after Dr. Joseph Warren, a Revolutionary War general killed during the battle of Bunker Hill. The county's Landen area takes it name from the farm established by Joseph Landen (1833-1902).

•  Ohio's oldest inn: The Golden Lamb traces its beginnings to Dec. 23, 1803, when Jonas Seaman spent $4 to purchase a license to open "a house of public entertainment." It's oft recognized as the state's oldest inn and Ohio's oldest business in continuous operation.

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Cliff Radel, a Cincinnati native, writes about the people, places and traditions defining his hometown. E-mail: cradel@enquirer.com