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HATCHET JOB

Axe Throwing in Lake Geneva.
Axe throwing has been a thing since prehistoric times and was originally used as a survival skill. Over the years it has developed into a sport and can be tracked back to a logger’s sport in the 1940s. These days, axe throwing has become very popular with the emergence of the sport of ‘axe throwing’ across the world. Axe throwing continues to be a growing sport, with leagues and tournaments forming every year.

The US has a growing number of Axe Throwing Centers opening every year. Why not add axe throwing to the Lake Geneva experience? The act of throwing an axe sounds a little barbaric and unsafe to many, but, as it becomes more prevalent in the recreational world, safety has been a top priority. Venues and leagues recognize the innate risks of weapon throwing but also have procedures and protocols in place to avoid deadly incidents.

Get ready for something new and interesting here in downtown Lake Geneva. The plan is to finish the renovations in the 253 Center Street unit which includes the seven axe throwing stations and also will include all the protocol safety features.  Small concessions will be available, with the potential of beer and wine being included. The center will train all employees using an official course to help ensure that safety and fun coexist together. This could be an interesting adventure for locals and visitors to experience.

The plan commission approved the new facility, and that approval was quickly followed by an approval by the city council (all alderpersons voting to approve (except for the former newspaper editor and wise Yodo-like guru alderman named John Halverson).  What’s the wisdom of this rushed move by the overwhelming leadership of the City of Lake Geneva?

Every bit of information about axe throwing that was presented to the decision-makers came from the axe throwing league and operators of axe throwing operations.  The public is supposed to believe that there’s never been an injury at any of the supposedly hundreds of axe-throwing facilities strewn haphazardly across the nation.  Facilities that nobody on the staff of the GSR has ever heard of before?  But, as this front-page article approaches its publishing of this information and the evaluation of its potential effects on the community, the booze factor is being totally underestimated.

Where sharp or percussion or other energy transmitting devices are present it’s best that alcohol is not consumed at all or be allowed.  To combine this new, and advertised to be a safe sport, with the sales and administration of alcohol would seem to simply add another problematic mess to the whole Thumbs Up, Fat Cats, Hogs and Kisses and Champs early a.m. nightmare the city is already plagued with.

The conditional use permit that was granted to this operation is planned to be applied as follows; “The plan is to open sometime in November with hours starting at noon Tuesday through Sunday and closing at 10 p.m. on weekdays and 11 p.m. on weekends and 8 p.m. on Sunday. The center will train all employees through an official course provided by the WATL (World Axe Throwing League) with certification in order to help ensure safety and fun coexist together.”  The initial plan laid out here doesn’t include being open in the early morning hours, thank God, but it does set the stage for the potential of looming problems the city has no idea about and is only informed about by people coming into the community in order to make money.

Lake Geneva doesn’t have its own pro baseball team, football, or basketball teams, and its orchestra doesn’t even have a place to really perform.  What kind of sports and entertainment venues of class can be brought to the community in order to continue to raise its level of becoming, evermore, a place where people come to play, learn, and simply relax in a class environment?  Axe throwing would be about a hundred and eighty down the list of any such venues, but here we are, trying to make do with whatever passing Troubadours, Carnies and Snake Oil salesmen have to offer. The article in this issue, written about the elegant opening of the Belfry Hotel, runs in total opposition to this new Axe Throwing venue.  Where do we want to go as a community and how do we want to get there deserves more of John Halverson’s thoughts rather than those of the rest of them.