ROLLING THUNDER
Gary Gygax created a game called Dungeons and Dragons. He had no idea just how successful his creation would grow to be, and, in fact, sold out the game to Hasbro a few years after it hit the stands. Today, what’s happening to his invention is staggering in size and scope. Lake Geneva, once the home and starting place for Hollywood movie productions, is now becoming home for the Dungeons and Dragons franchise to improve, grow and blossom into something neither Gary nor Hasbro (the company Gary sold his ownership to early on) had any idea could possibly predict. Enter GaryCon.
This ComiCon sort of presentation and conference, now in its 16th year, is surpassing almost all other programs and presentations the Grand Geneva Resort, located in the Town of Lyons (but with a Lake Geneva address), puts on. The yearly event of the GaryCon is big, and the now permanent display at the Geneva Lake Museum is also big, but nothing is going to compare to what is in the works. Several news agencies have commented on this new business coming called Griffen and Gargoyle. The property just northeast of the Emagine Theater (2,000 acres of it) have been acquired.
Now the ownership of Griffen and Gargoyle (there are castles built in other locations across the nation) is seeking help from the Lake Geneva City Council and other leadership in getting the property annexed to Lake Geneva. The property is currently located in the Town of Lyon, like the Grand Geneva Resort. Annexation would allow the operation to connect to Lake Geneva’s sewer and water. The Grand Geneva gets Lake Geneva water but that was by an exceptional agreement made years ago. Will Lake Geneva’s management get fully behind this coming behemoth? It is not overestimating to use the word behemoth here.
This operation is planning on breaking ground next year and then being open by 2024. What would it bring with it? Oh, probably a few million people a year! Yes, it would likely be that big. Property on Sheridan Springs Road and along the highway running under Highway 12 in both southerly and northerly directions is going to get very expensive indeed. Attending this year’s GaryCon, held for four days last week at the Grand Geneva, was an eyeopener. There were thousands of visitors and every hotel in the entire area was fully booked. People came from all across the nation to attend a four-day convention. Where do you think they will come if they can stay, play, visit, eat and sleep whenever and for however long they want any day, week or month of the year?
All of these venues, the Griffen and Gargoyle, the Geneva Lake Museum effort, and the GaryCon exposition are going to blend together. Lake Geneva will become known throughout the world, but not for its lake. There is, after all, another Lake Geneva in Switzerland. No, if all this comes together as expected then look for Lake Geneva, or Lake Geneva, to become known for a game.
Dungeons and Dragons made the change from a board game to virtual and electronic. Most games don’t, but D&D attracted those people (read ‘young’) very interested in computers and all the new ever-changing electronic devices and mediums. D&D is here to stay, and Lake Geneva is about to cash in big time on the fact that it was all started in Lake Geneva. The beauty of the lake and its ease of access, shops, and amenities are going to vault the place into the upper limits of its capacity to handle huge crowds of gaming humans. The city is not ready for what is about to happen, not in roads, highways, hotels, restaurants or even boat capacity. This prediction, freely made by this newspaper’s publisher is no harder to make than it was for the same man to ‘guess’ that Tesla, Amazon, and Google would take off in value. Get ready, the dragons are coming, and you should soon be able to hear their rolling thunder cries of conquest and great fun.
