Looking On The Bright Side

The second Sunday of Advent is upon us.
There will be three more candle-lighting ceremonies left before Christmas. Many families this weekend will light a second purple candle on this, the second Sunday of Advent, to represent the hope of Christ coming to the world. The staff of the Geneva Shore Report will light its second symbolic Advent Christmas tree as darkness falls. The word “hope” has two meanings in the Bible. The first, tiqvah, contains the sense of eager anticipation or waiting. The second, elpis depicts a sense of confident expectation based on certainty. Biblical hope is secured by God’s faithfulness to His promises. For the Old Testament leaders, their hope was in the Messiah’s arrival. For some, it is the hope of the Messiah’s return. For Christians, God’s plan for humanity unfolded in the town of Bethlehem, the birthplace of the Messiah, joyously fulfilling a long-awaited promise. Today many confidently wait for the Messiah’s triumphant return.

Coat collection by the LGPD. The collection this year was a huge success. Unfortunately, the LGPD coat collection ended on December 1st. But for those of you out there still wanting to donate a winter coat for the poor or homeless there are other sites. Besides the well known resources, such as Goodwill, the Salvation Army, and Love Inc. in Burlington, most food banks and area churches also have clothes’ closets.

Thanks to your help we collected more than 90 coats for our residents! We have cleared out our bin in the lobby to now accept donations for non-perishable food and toiletry supplies until December 20th. Canned fruit, soup, pancake mix, dish soap, and diapers are all great ideas for the Walworth County Food Pantry.

Where are the Bathrooms? The total lack of public bathrooms in Lake Geneva, and the well-enforced ordinance against doing one’s business anywhere but in a bathroom, combine to create a conundrum for anyone with a bladder. What are people supposed to to do, now that most businesses in the community have shut their bathrooms down completely to customers and non customers alike? The outside bathrooms at the library, the chamber, and the Rivera are all closed for the season.

What does that leave for bathrooms? Fake visits to the local restaurants that still allow people not eating or drinking there to use their restrooms? What kind of burden is that putting on these establishments? Does anyone think it is easy and cheap to constantly take care of a public bathroom? If anyone answers that question in a positive way, then that person needs to consider just who volunteers to clean the toilets at home during and after the holidays. The City of Lake Geneva needs to find a place in its stingy budget

Is it rumor or is it truth?
Are the area schools committed to rent the use of the new indoor tennis courts being constructed in the industrial park? If so, was this commitment used to predict that the establishment would make a profit, and therefore justify bank loans for this private business? Is it rumor or is it the truth that a police officer must secure the location before the rescue squad, EMT’s, paramedics or fire equipment can enter and provide assistance? If this is truth, then is it that dangerous in the City of Lake Geneva that help has to be delayed or wait until the area is declared secure, and then and only then have a resident helped by the city?

If a resident calls Paratech, then does Paratech also have to wait until the area is declared secure by Lake Geneva Police before giving assistance or does this only apply to 911 calls?   Are those needing help, better off by this rumored procedure, and has a person ever died or suffered harm unnecessarily because of that kind of delay imposed in other jurisdictions? These are questions that need to be investigated because those who are effected by the results of emergency procedures are normally determined by those who write the rules about applying them.

All too often it is those who write those rules who benefit from them, and not those that the procedures are supposedly set up to protect and to serve.

Grandest Place and Person

Tommi Hackler is one of those remarkably rare people who combine great talent with great personality. After many years of honing and sharpening her talent and skills, Tammi’s opened her own floral business . Tommi’s Garden Bloom on HWY H just before Hemmingway’s in Lake Geneva. It’s the holidays and flowers always work. Go in and get some great stuff and have some great fun.

Christmas Trees at Tammi’s Garden Bloom