OUR PLACE
Lake Geneva Day occurs on Thursday, July 14th, 2022.
It’s all about the residents, those that call Lake Geneva home. It’s easy for a local to feel a little neglected, especially when the busy season starts, and visitors easily far outnumber them. This day has been designated to show appreciation for the residents who are a huge reason Lake Geneva is the gem it is. Parking will be free all day for anyone with a parking sticker. Iconic buildings, including Horticultural Hall and The Riviera, will be participating in the day with open-house events. The growing and wonderful Lake Geneva Farmers Market will be in full swing for Lake Geneva Day, from 8 a.m., through 1 p.m. The day will end in Flat Iron Park with a performance of Concerts in the Park with the Lake Geneva Symphony.
Hawaiian Shave Ice.
Amazingly, this wonderful delicacy, not much known for its authentic-styled preparation. The machine is a Hawaiian product, the machine that spins the big round ice chunks fed into it constantly, as the lines are occasionally long, even though this delight of a place has only been open a few days. The syrups are right up there among the best quality. Initially, back in the 1950s shave ice was made in Japan for hundreds of years, where blocks of ice were shaved with sharpened knives and then mixed with syrups made from local fruit. When the cones came to Hawaii, and their popularity began to grow dramatically (after WWII), there were only three flavors: banana, lime, and strawberry. Now, there are many flavors, with coconut and Li Hing Mui among the local favorites out there.
The Shave Ice’s new home is in the little American Legion building where the infamous ‘guys with little hot dogs’ used to spend some time harassing the Kite Lady across the street (now unfortunately retired and gone). That’s right, Hawaiian-style shaved ice has taken the place of the hotdogs at the American Legion Post 24 canteen building next to the Riviera Beach entrance on Wrigley Drive. The hours are 1 p.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday through Thursday, and 11 a.m. through 8 p.m. on Friday and Saturday. Those hours are pretty generous so take full advantage. Grace Narayanan is the young 19-year-old behind this new great place. She’s also a certified recreational SCUBA diver and trapeze artist-in-training. Wow. Her place is called Malini Bikini Authentic Hawaii Shave Ice. Incidentally, the right accepted phrase for the delicacy and delights is Shave Ice, not shaved ice. This phrase is taken from the pidgin English spoken commonly in Hawaii following the war.
