SURPRISING STUFF
The American Legion Poppy Month.
Every year, going back to the armistice following the First World War, back then called Armistice Day and now Memorial Day, the American Legion and its auxiliary sold or gave away imitation Poppy flowers in honor of those lost in the war. John McCrae, who did not survive that war, wrote a poem as he toured a cemetery near the front. It is called in Flanders Fields: “In Flanders fields the poppies blow, between the crosses, row on row, that mark our place; and in the sky the larks, still bravely singing, fly, scarce heard amid the guns below. We are the dead. Short days ago, we lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow, loved and were loved, and now we lie in Flanders fields.”
Memorial Day is on May 26th this year, and the Poppy memorial art sculpture will be the center of the American Legion and the community in honoring all those lost in that war and all those since. Mayor Todd Krause has designated the month of May in Lake Geneva to be Poppy Month. Those of us, like the publisher of this Geneva Shore Publication, appreciate this gesture and the honoring of such terminal or highly risky service to protect and defend us all in the United States of America. Thank you, Todd, and the community with him. The sculpture consists of 13 big, brilliant red poppy flowers made out of aluminum.
The 13 poppies symbolize the stripes on the American flag. It is seven-and-a-half feet tall and is placed by Geneva Lake in Library Park near the veteran’s memorial. If you take a closer look, you will see that inside is a hidden gem. They hope that this big, beautiful, handcrafted work of art will remind others of the sacrifice veterans made for our freedom. Every little detail holds meaning and signifies the sacrifices our veterans gave for our freedom. Don’t forget to honor our soldiers at Lake Geneva’s Annual Memorial Day Parade downtown at 10 am on Monday, May 26th.
The Annual Burger Throwdown (or laydown or blowdown) at the Lodge.
These people, other than the fabulous owner, manager, and staff of the Lodge Hotel located five miles to the west of Lake Geneva on Highway 50, are something…and they are that every year as the GSR covers the event every year. The GSR covers it from the outside because it will not pay fifty dollars per person ($50.00!) just to get in to help the event be more popular. Fifty dollars. Please. And then pay the vendors for drinks and burgers that can be had with fresh, unfrozen, and cooked farm beef at The Dari in Hebron. The security people are mean. The volunteers are ill-mannered.
The “Event Planner” would better be termed the ‘Event Planter’. She refused to come out and meet the media and tell them why they can’t come in to ‘help’ the event, rather than what this media is doing right now. The message from the planner was also that the event cannot be covered without her permission. She can read that again here. The same thing happened last year. Go to the one next year and have a bad time, questionable food, and do so while paying through the nose for little or nothing.
The Lodge itself, however, is a place of class and great people.
