OUR PLACE
A scary and very sad day at the lake.
August 1st, Sunday afternoon, was a tragic day on Geneva Lake. At approximately 4 p.m., Bloomfield Rescue responded to a call at the boat launch on Wriggly Drive for a patient exhausted after being found in the water. This call was followed by another which stated the boat brought in 3 unresponsive victims from the lake. The details of what, who, and why are still unknown. The rescues continued with another call coming in at approximately 7 p.m. Geneva Lake Police, Linn Fire and Rescue, and Lake Geneva Rescue, Fontana, Williams Bay Fire and Rescue, and the Water Safety Patrol responded to South Lakeshore Drive just west of Big Foot Beach. The call was placed about a male, approximately 30 years of age, who went underwater from a boat with no life jacket. A water alarm was activated and units from all over responded quickly.
South Lakeshore Drive was closed to assist in the rescue effort. Unfortunately, the efforts turned into a recovery mission and continued into Monday morning. The victim has been identified as 31-year-old Antonio F. Delasancha Jr. from Elgin Illinois. The victim allegedly was operating a boat pulling his two pre-teen daughters on a tube, when one of the girls fell off. Antonio quickly turned the boat and stopped to pick her up but, in the process, his 11-year-old son jumped off with his life jacket on to help. The boy began to drift away from the boat and seemed to be struggling. Mr. Delasancha jumped in without a life jacket to help his son. He went under while swimming and drowned in about forty-five feet of water. The body was located at approximately 11:45 p.m., on Sunday, August 1st. The location was marked, and the recovery was completed on late Monday morning. The GSR sends its sympathy and condolences to the victims, the families, and all affected. The events of this weekend are scary and sad but also a reminder for everyone to always wear a life jacket when out on the lake waters, and always make safety a very high priority.
Rescue Boats
Rescue boats lined up at Big Foot Beach the night of August 1, preparing to search for the young father who died while boating.
Riviera Staffing is a concern as Lake Geneva heads into winter.
With more bookings and events being held at the Riviera the setup and tear down between bookings is becoming a full-time job. The public works department oversees the operation and always has a worker there. His name is Sam and he’s pretty great at overseeing and taking care of the building and grounds. The events are another story, as it takes a lot more work than one guy can handle, and the weekend events take extra hours after an assembled crew is already working a forty-hour week. They are getting burned out and the public works department is concerned that its employees will not have time to take care of other city chores properly if so much time is being used at the Riviera, especially when the snow starts to fall. The mayor was at the meeting and took the podium to share her thoughts. Mayor Klein wanted the committee to know that the schedule of usage the Riviera is getting and how it changes week to week but is booked a lot more than in recent years. The hope is to get funding to hire workers to take over from public works at the Riviera. Events coordinator Stephanie Copsey has a list of bookings and events, and public works would like this reviewed by the current leadership to determine what more might be needed. This issue will be discussed at future meetings.
The Lake Geneva City Council has voted to allow free parking for non-residents at church services in downtown Lake Geneva.
This will be for a trial period, running from August 1st through October 31st, and then it will be brought back to the city council for discussion on if, or how, to continue. The parking department will issue church-specific vehicle permits which will include the church name, permit number, and time of service. The permits will be placed on the churchgoer’s dashboard to let the parking department know they are in attendance at the service and not enforce the parking regulations. The permits will only be good for the Sunday morning church service and are not available for weddings or funerals. There was confusion about a verbal agreement to allow free parking to the churches from a previous city administrator and mayor so when the churchgoers started getting ticketed there was some confusion and hurt feelings. The parking department and city want to make this effort official and proper. Each church will receive twenty permits. Another issue with parking has been that more and more cars are parking over the white lines. This causes cars to not be able to park next to them. There is already limited parking in the city and some spots are tight and difficult to navigate, especially when traffic is backed up for blocks or miles. Why isn’t the parking department ticketing these vehicles or charging them for two parking stalls? We want visitors to feel welcome but it’s also a common courtesy, as well as following the law, to park in-between the lines and not on or over them.
Place of the Week
Sammy’s, a great joint in the town of Walworth. Great food and friendly service.
