For nearly 70 years, the Fusco family has been serving handmade Italian water ice from a small stand on Wilmington's Union Street in Little Italy. The flavor is almost always lemon, a pure mix of water, sugar and hand-selected lemons complete with flecks of lemon rind dotting the saccharine slush.

Only a few years ago, the Fusco's Italian Water Ice stand, painted in the colors of the Italian flag, sat dormant for several years when fourth-generation owner Joseph Staffieri, 36, decided to go back to school.