SURPRISING STUFF
Mayor Charlene Klein delivers at the Business Improvement District’s last meeting.
Without her steady hand and easy spot-on responses to some board member’s comments and questions, the place might have become bedlam. The snow plowing of Lake Geneva’s only snowfall so far this year was handled smoothly and quickly by the street department but not to satisfaction of some of the members of the BID district. Charlene very easily and casually mentioned that the retailers who’d spoken earlier at the meeting all were commenting about how the past year was one of the best retail sales years ever. The two-hour time the retailers had to close early should not have affected them hardly at all, compared to those record times and revenue amounts overall.
Coming events.
At last week’s Business Improvement District (BID) meeting the committee discussed updating and improving its events.
This May, that program will include a Shamrock Shuffle, which will be held as a virtual 5K. The route will end at Topsy Turvy (located at the corner of Geneva Street and Broad) for a post-party with lanyards and “T-shirt pick up” on that day.
In April the BID would like to try a Spring Fashion Week, including a fashion show at the Riviera. They are also suggesting getting the merchants involved by offering discounts, deals, and fashion shows at their own individual stores. The wine walk in May is now proposed as a two-day event, to be held on the 21st and 22nd. This is a huge event for the BID and always sells out quickly so this could bring in quite a bit of extra funds for them.
Then, come September, locals, and visitors will enjoy a Honky Tonk/Country Fest. This would be a smaller version of Country Thunder but feature more local artists.
This year Veteran’s Day is set to be celebrated in a big way with a much larger parade, military fly-over, meals for veterans, fireworks, and much more. It’s very refreshing to see the BID honoring all our Veterans in such a grand way.
At the end of the year, the Cocoa Crawl will be held to be a part of the Holiday events and tree lighting. The BID is trying to freshen up its events and fill in the gaps when the traffic of pedestrians drops off due to deep winter or for other reasons. The BID will attempt to keep the visitors coming, making them very welcome and showing them the best Lake Geneva has to offer.
Winterfest is coming, fast, just around the corner.
This wonderful, extravagant but so worth it event is due to hit downtown Lake Geneva on February 2nd and run through the 6th. That’s only two weeks from the publishing of this issue. There will be bonfires on the beach this year. There will be igloos set up to get out of the cold and enjoy libations and snacks inside. Of course, as is the case every day of the event, there will be the walking in, around, and among the many professional ice sculptures constructed by international snow sculpting teams. Find out more online at winterfest.net. The whole thing is free, as far as there is no entry fee for anything. Food and drinks will be charged for, as well as attendance in the igloos
Lake Photo of the Week
Sunset last week in Buttons Bay
