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Fire Chief Connelly quits!
The Lake Geneva Fire Chief calls it quits. According to people who were present when he walked out he said he was simply “fed up.” The position of fire chief in Lake Geneva is a part time position. Connelly had another job down in Illinois, so it’s not like he’s leaving firefighting.

Lkae Geneva Fire Chief Connelly quits

Simply the best fire chief ever. He’s gone into the sunset without even a ‘heigh o Silver’ to mark his sudden departure. Mystery surrounds Chief Connelly’s resignation but no matter what Lake Geneva has lost a real hero and a good man.

He’s simply going to leave the Lake Geneva Police and Fire Commission behind. Who is it over there on that commission that is difficult to work with or report to? Here’s who’s who on that committee: Lynelle Gramm, Tom Hartz, Rick Bittner, Dennis Jordan, Brian Pollard, Chris Gelting, Alderman Mike Mumford, Geneva Township. Now who could possibly be hard to get along with on that committee? Mr. Darth Vadar, Dennis Jordan, who so warmed the hearts of all the city employees he ground his way through as city administrator, and who still speak of him so highly (in whispers) that when they talk frost forms on the walls in summer? Is it the frustrated old lady routine that Tom Hartz trots out with a kindly sharp-toothed smile? Might it be Mr. Gelting or some of the others? Connelly fled without saying. Somewhere in this mess of ‘pick-up-sticks’ assortment of commissioners laying around is the name Gunderson. Yes, that Gunderson. The ex-frocked preacher who’s become distant from Martin Luther, but much closer to becoming the new guiding spirit of the fire department (he’s a captain on the force). What’s going to happen? Who’s going to take over leadership of the department? Small town wisdom will be applied, unless Lake Geneva’s tiny version of the Bilderberg meet secretly, of course in Davos, Switzerland, or more likely the Pub, to slip somebody through that resembles the proper morph of smooth-furred cocker spaniel and lounge lizard.

 

Grandma Vicky’s Restaurant.
The little old-fashioned but wonderful restaurant across from the not so old fashioned Simple Restaurant incurred a tragedy last week. The young daughter of Vicky, who helped run the restaurant, passed away following an asthma attack. She will be sorely missed by a lot of local people who knew and loved her. The GSR does not do obituary reports except under extraordinary circumstance. This is one of those. The young lady is survived by her husband and four children, and Vicky, of course.

 

Mysterious disappearance.
Michalene Melges disappeared on May 10th with her three children. Buddy Melges, the America’s Cup winner back in 1992, sailing for Bill Koch (yes, that Bill Koch) and gold medal winner in the 1972 Olympics, is her father-in-law. Michalene disappeared in a rented van with her three kids; Hans Melges, 14, Kristian “Max” Melges, 12, and Maverik “Buddy” Melges, 10. They left in the van from their home located on South Lake Shore Drive and checked in the rental van in Plano, Texas a few days after leaving the Lake Geneva area. The police held back the report of her disappearance until recently due to unknown reasons. Prior to going to print, the police reported Michalene, the 3 boys, two dogs and the two lizards have been found safe in Georgia, after escaping from Texas intact.

 

Your car has been towed.
The bills for April and May came in. What was in that mess of little nit-picky stuff apparently only the Geneva Shore Report is interested in going through? How about a thousand bucks, or so, for towing. How come every towing job the city pays costs a couple of hundred dollars?

Call Del’s Towing and Service at 262-248-9973.

One of the GSR staff had a company Mercedes towed to Autohouse in Highland Park for much less than two hundred dollars. Where are these cars being towed to and who owns the cars and why is the city paying? None of that is in the billing. What’s in the billing is Larry’s Towing. Those guys at Larry’s are not bad fellows. There doesn’t seem to be any females that hang around their ‘corral’ just east of H at the north edge of town. Why Larry’s? Why are all city tows made by Larry’s Towing and why do the cops call Larry’s if they want some car towed? What happened to Del and his wife and his entire operation. Del and his wife are founding cornerstones of downtown Lake Geneva. They charge outrageous prices for gas but most everyone goes to buy from them anyway.

Why is that? Because they are wonderful people and they come and tow cars for damn near nothing at any hour of day or night. Who’s going to tow your car to Highland Park, of all places, no matter what the cost? And Del’s wife and partner, Arlene, is a real female (which unfortunately must be mentioned these days!). The city, under its new leadership, needs to get off its proverbial butt and put the towing out to bid every year. A thousand bucks for five tows. Larry is to be complimented, but the city needs some discipline and open policy modifications when it comes to towing of any kind.

 

The Bridge Over the River Kwai.
Actually, the Geneva Lake community is beginning to refer to the bridge over the boat access channel in Fontana as the Abbey Bridge. Much better name than Fontana Bridge, as the Abbey remains about the only feature of that small berg that is in the least bit attractive. Fontana seems set on a course of American uglification by kowtowing to Shodeen in allowing more of the high density condos to be shoved down its small downtown throat. They are adding frosting to that ugly cake by proceeding with another plan to put a boat dealership on one corner of the only real road intersection the town has. But the Abbey Bridge is nice. And the Abbey itself shines like the jewel it continues to be. Under the tutelage of brilliant and cultured leadership (the general manager’s name is David Lindalow) the place has developed a reputation for intense personal service, cleanliness and efficiency. It’s also not too expensive.

Video of  Abbey Bridge

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