OUR PLACE
The Never Say Never Playland.
This wonderful children’s benefit is coming to Lake Geneva. Never Say Never Playland (NSN) is the effort to build the community’s first inclusive Playland at Veterans Park in Lake Geneva. It will replace the 25 to 30-year-old playground equipment currently at Veterans Park. This playground is designed to allow children with disabilities to play side-by-side with their non-disabled peers in a safe, stimulating, and fun environment. The playland will have a woodland theme to spark young imaginations, to play in, and believe that anything is possible. The playground will feature fairies and pirates, mushroom steppers, a clock tower, a mermaid tunnel, and a pirate ship, plus many more fun features. All kids and young adults will be able to have fun no matter what their ability is. Never Say Never Playland will be ADA accessible and will be the first of its kind in the Walworth County area.
The community is coming together to build this unique 13,000 square foot structure. Dusti Grenus, the founder of the non-profit Never Say Never operation, secured $300,000 through fundraising and donations but was still $300,000 shy of her goal to build Never Say Never. Brian Pollard, the president of Fairwyn, has committed to providing the final $300,000 needed for the playground. Pollard’s inspiration for the generous donation comes from one of his kids who has special needs and attends Lakeland School in Elkhorn. The project will begin this fall and it will need at least 2,000 volunteers, working in four-hour shifts over the course of seven days to complete this Never Say Never Playland before winter.
This will be the fifth all-inclusive special needs park in the state. There are parks currently in Kenosha, Franklin, Port Washington, and Janesville. The Geneva Shore Report has been rather harsh in criticizing Mr. Pollard, with respect to his Symphony Bay development and also the linking of it to a ‘keyhole’ use and ownership of lake rights for his purchasers. Mr. Pollard goes a long way, with his donation, in helping to change the GSR staff’s opinion of him and what he’s up to.
The Milwaukee Bucks are 1st in the NBA Eastern Conference.
The Bucks are the top seed of the NBA playoffs for the third time in the last five seasons, but this year’s playoffs are off to a rocky start. Everything seemed to fall into place perfectly for a long playoff run. Fiserv Forum was rocking before Game 1 of the first-round playoff series between the Milwaukee Bucks and Miami Heat on Sunday. The energy of the crowd was contagious, as the players entered the court ready to face their competition. Unfortunately, the positive vibes quickly changed to feelings of anxiety among the sellout crowd of 17,381 fans in the building after the first quarter. The anxiety continued to heighten from there.
Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo hurt his lower back on a hard fall in the first quarter and was declared out for the game not long after that. It is unclear when he is expected to be back on the court. It was only the first game of a seven-game series, but all of a sudden there was a lot to worry about for the Bucks. The Bucks have plenty of experience playing without Antetokounmpo but would love to see their MVP back on the court. Hopefully, with the support of all their fans and home court advantage, the Bucks can come together and bring home a win. Let’s cheer for our home team and bring back another championship. The teams will be at Fiserv Forum for Game 2 at 8 p.m. on Wednesday, the day the GSR is published.
