LITTLE GEMS
What Richmond, Illinois can learn from Lake Geneva’s experience.
The merchant’s meeting in Richmond, which took place at 10:00 a.m. on Monday morning, was about businesses coming together to talk about making the town more financially successful. The meeting was very well attended. Unfortunately, Illinois has no ordinances allowing for or even encouraging, communities to form Business Improvement Districts, so businesses in downtown areas can get together and charge a small fee to perform certain services and provide leadership.
The BID in Lake Geneva is hugely successful at bringing in locals (urban and rural) as well as visitors of all kinds. Attracting populations, near and far, to come into the center of town in order to do business with the local shops and restaurants requires a lot of forethought, work, time, and money. It takes money to hold something like Lake Geneva’s Octoberfest or Winterfest, not to mention the other fests and functions.
The Richmond merchants getting together are well-led, supported by the township, and getting organized. The meeting was held at the Richmond Coffee Show and the Yost family was wonderfully generous and kind in making it all happen at their establishment. The Geneva Shore Report was there for the meeting and, in fact, recorded the entire event on live video now available on the GSR Facebook Page,
The Department of Public Works met on Monday night, and it was a mess.
Long hard meetings are the common thing for this commission, and this one was no exception. The traffic lines ridiculously splashed up and down Edwards Boulevard were discussed, and no conclusions were come to. How can this commission fail to see that Edwards is a disaster, with accidents just waiting to happen, and those in auto accidents very likely to sue the city for not exercising even the least bit of common sense in putting the guiding white lines down to properly and safely direct traffic?
Yes, Edwards is that bad. Then there was nearly a half an hour discussion about whether to use salt in clearing ice from bike trails. What is the alternative? Waiting for spring, evidently, because no decision was made on this issue either. Both these issues were like the meeting in Belarus between the representatives from Russia and Ukraine. All they can agree on is to get together to discuss ‘whatever’ again.
There was also a discussion about placing address designations on certain city properties that currently don’t have them. Parks do not have addresses. How do visitors call into the police or fire department if they don’t know what park they are in trouble in? The Riviera has no address either. Apparently, some communities with this address problem have had unscrupulous predator investors buy such unaddressed properties without towns or cities being able to do much about it. That doesn’t seem possible, likely or real but it was discussed at this last meeting.
Four Seasons Nature Preserve has been renamed and is now the Mary Koutsky Four Seasons Nature Preserve.
Mary Koutsky passed away early this year, and the decision to name the park after her was made with little discussion or question. Mary loved nature, its wildlife and also shared her passion with local youth groups through education and with hands-on work, tackling regular maintenance at several local parks, most recently the Four Seasons Park. The funding for the new signage with her name on it is already set aside, along with some funding for other routine maintenance in the park. Mary Koutsky Four Seasons Nature Preserve is located at 1875 County Trunk H south of 120. Lake Geneva and the surrounding area are filled with different areas of pristine nature spots. With spring right around the corner all of Lake Geneva’s wonderful parks, including this one, are worth a visit.
Torcaso’s Shoe Repair at 253 Center Street #800 in Lake Geneva has closed and moved out of Lake Geneva.
The only Torcaso’s left can now be found at 3305 60th Street in Kenosha. This wonderful little shoe repair shop has been a real gem to many in the area. Not only has it been super convenient and affordable, but the hand-made quality of work has been stellar. The repair shop in Lake Geneva focused on shoe repair but also worked on handbags, zippers, and other miscellaneous leather and leather-like products. The brother and sister duo that ran the Lake Geneva store are joining their brother who has been running the Kenosha location and all three will all be working together. Cobblers are a rare breed these days so when you find a good one you stick with him or her. Torcaso’s was a great one in Lake Geneva and it’s well worth the extra drive to go into Kenosha to continue to experience this family’s kind of work.
Person of the Week
Kiera Bays…just a wonder, working away at the Richmond Cafe in Richmond Illinois.
