LIVING HERE
Dragon Days.
The very first Dragon Days Festival of Fantasy will take place October 13th through the 15th, and be located in Lake Geneva’s Library Park, with other attractions at Horticultural Hall, TSR Museum, and the library. This event will highlight the creation of the very popular role play game Dungeons and Dragon. Gary Gygax, the creator, and lifelong resident of Lake Geneva, created the game in his home in Lake Geneva and this game eventually grew into a full-time business, with Gygax opening an office and employing over four hundred people.
Since the game’s creation, and the death of Gary Gygax, the game continued to grow and so does the number of participants all over the world. Lake Geneva has recently started highlighting the significance of Gary Gygax and what he accomplished. The TSR Museum, which shares the history of Gary and the game, has been opened on Williams Street, Library Park now has a bench dedicated to Gygax, and will eventually have a replica of Gary at a gaming table in the park that fans can visit.
July 17th has been declared Gary Gygax Day in Lake Geneva. The Dragon Days Festival is a very appropriate event for Lake Geneva and there are hopes the event will grow every year. Businesses downtown are encouraged to participate, with merchandise and specialty menu items and drinks. Renaissance dressed characters will stroll through Lake Geneva, along with many participants. Not everyone is a diehard fan of Dungeons and Dragons but most everyone can enjoy a weekend full of fun and fantasy.
Business Improvement District’s business interview:
“My family has been in Walworth County since the 19th century. Both sides of my family settled from Ireland and Germany to Walworth County in the 1860’s. My mom’s dad is John Leahy. He learned how to cut meat at the Apple General Store in Lyons and then ended up cutting for Sentry in Columbus, Wisconsin. He missed the Lake Geneva area. His father was Sydney Smith’s estate caretaker, so my grandfather was born on the Sydney Smith estate. After being away, he wanted to come back. So, in 1965, he started in the meat business when he took over an established business in the City of Lake Geneva. It was called Host Brothers Packing and it was in a barn near what is currently the Cheese Box. After about 18 months in the original location, they were outpacing what they could handle in the barn. The business moved out to the current location in 1967. We’ve been here ever since.
This is seven generations of my family that have been here and we love it.
Originally, I wanted to work in public policy. I really enjoy doing things that can impact people’s lives, hopefully for better. I have a political science degree and I went to law school where I planned to get my law degree. I hated law school. It just was not my thing. I was there in 2008, which was the largest class of incoming potential lawyers ever. It was also a global financial crisis. I was working harder than I had ever worked, more money that I could plan to make, and I was miserable. I said, ‘This is stupid’ and I voluntarily withdrew.
I had always helped with the business growing up. There’s always something that needs to be done. My parents added a huge addition in 2008. And we went from a fairly small butcher shop to a fairly large butcher shop pretty rapidly. I had all these projects here. I figured, I can finish up these projects and go find a different job. Fifteen years later, and I still think, ‘Maybe I’ll finish up one more project and go find another job.’ But I love it. I love it here. I love the pride of family business. I love feeding people.”
Nick Vorpagel – Lake Geneva Country Meats
