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Summer at Geneva-on-the-Lake comes to an end 2006
GENEVA-ON-THE-LAKE - The forecast for Tuesday calls for summery 70-degree
weather.
Despite the warm climate, Geneva-on-the-Lake will begin its annual
transformation into a relative ghost town. The village's resort season stretches
from Mother's Day in mid-May to Labor Day in the beginning of September. Many
businesses shut down for the year the day after Labor Day.
"It's horribly sad," said Sally Parks, proprietor and artist at For the Love of
Geneva-on-the-Lake Gallery. "It's hard to think of going nine months without
being here. There's just an emptiness when you're not here."
Other Geneva-on-the-Lake employees have mixed feelings about the end of the
season. Some are glad to be ending the summer, while others would be happier if
it were still July.
"I can't wait for the season to be over; it's been a long summer," said Russ
Jones, an employee of Blue Dragon. Jones has worked at Blue Dragon 12 summers,
and said working nearly every day this summer has drained him somewhat.
Best Steak and Gyro, a restaurant in downtown Cleveland, had a booth for the
first time this summer at Geneva-on-the-Lake. Michael Linehan, a friend of the
Cleveland restaurant proprietors, managed the booth all summer.
"It's a little sad for the summer to be ending; I'm closing my own shop! But I
am leaving happy," Linehan said. Best Steak and Gyro came to Geneva-on-the-Lake
to "bring a different menu" to the resort area, and Linehan said his stand was
very popular.
"I worked the whole business by myself, and on weekends, I was here until 2 and
3 in the morning," he said. "People wanted something to eat late at night and
there was nothing else open, so my motto was that I'd be the last to leave,
after everyone had taken care of their late-night hunger pains."
Linehan, who lived with his mother in Geneva-on-the-Lake for the summer, said
that Tuesday begins his time to relax and spend time with family. He's not sure
where he's going to work for the rest of the year, and doesn't know if his stand
will return next year.
Robert Boehm, an employee of Sport Center Arcade, said the arcade has either
been packed or empty this summer, and working there has kept him extremely busy
or bored.
"I'm kind of looking forward to the end of summer because I just started my
freshman year at Lakeland Community College," said Boehm. "I have a really long
drive from there to here most days, and I haven't been getting enough sleep."
Some businesses will stay open for a few weekends, and a smaller number will
remain open year-round. Parks said she will keep her gallery, located in an
open-air barn, open as long as she can into September.
"The biggest problem is that the weather gets colder and my gallery has no
door," she said.
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