For the second Family Day in a row, thousands trekked into the heart of Dundas Valley Conservation Area for Braden’s Hot Chocolate Festival.

The event was set up around an old train station off the Rail Trail, which had been converted into a trail centre. Food trucks parked along one side and hot chocolate was served just outside the centre itself.

Mingling amidst the crowd, unassuming and easy-to-miss, was 10-year-old Braden Marshall, the brainchild behind the entire event.

“One day, my dad and I were just sitting around and I said I wanted to do a lemonade stand,” Marshall said. “Then we realized it was the middle of November and a bit too cold for lemonade. So I suggested hot chocolate, and that sparked the whole thing.”

Also present, butted against the lush forest scenery, was a stage for families’ entertainment, with performances over the course of the day by Katie Bulley, Terra Lightfoot, Alfie Smith, and John Ellison.

Ellison, writer of the ‘60s soul hit “Some Kind of Wonderful,” was delighted to fly up from Florida to come help out.

“Anytime you see a young person that’s trying to do something positive, you know, I’m a guy that’ll support it,” said Ellison.

All proceeds collected from hot chocolate sales went toward the Hamilton Conservation Foundation.