GOTL opens summer season with a parade
May 11—GENEVA-ON-THE-LAKE — The start of the summer season was celebrated on Saturday afternoon during the Summer Kick-Off Parade down the Strip.
A wide variety of groups participated in the event ranging from twirling groups, to the Geneva High School band, animals and a drag racing car.
The event is sponsored by the Geneva Area Convention and Visitors Bureau and the village of Geneva-on-the-Lake to kick off the summer season, said Tim Mills, who helped organize the parade.
The weather has often been a factor during the eight years the parade has occurred, Mills said. The event takes place rain or shine and the first parade occurred in 70-degree weather with sunny skies and another with rain and sleet pounding participants and viewers alike.
Saturday the weather fell in between with the mid-morning rains dissipating for the parade but temperatures were still in the 40s and people from the county, as well as across Ohio and Pennsylvania, checked out the festivities.
The parade started on the east side of town, beginning with marchers lining up just east of the Route 531 intersection and mobile entries coming along Route 531 from Indian Creek Campground.
Mills guided them into the parade route and the crowd got bigger as units arrived at the middle of the Strip near Eddie's Grill and other longtime businesses that draw thousands to the village each summer.
The village is welcoming several new businesses this summer and many are improving present bars, restaurants and other entertainment entities, Mill said.
While some businesses will wait to open full time until the Memorial Day weekend, others are already open daily, Mills said.
Heather Williams, her husband Corey and son Beckett, 4, all of Geneva-on-the-Lake, waited patiently for the parade to arrive. She said they came to help kick off the summer season.
That is just the plan according to Mills and Geneva-on-the-Lake Mayor Dwayne Bennett.
Mandy Trautman said a Mother's Day weekend visit to Geneva-on-the-Lake has become a family tradition. She said the extended family gathers to enjoy the early season experience in the village.
Bennett said he was happy the rain went away for the parade. He said many businesses are already open.
"We will be at full blast by Memorial Day," he said.
Bennett said the village is hoping to improve some side streets this summer.
Another family from Toronto, Ohio, comes to GOTL regularly and enjoys all the village has to offer, said Emily Anthill. She said the family patriarch, Kevin Miller, has been coming to the village since 1960.
"I was 3," he said.
Kylie Britton, 14, was representing Sportzters Bar and Grill, and gave out roses to mothers along the parade route, in keeping with the Mother's Day weekend theme.
One of those who received a rose was Diana Orloff, of Erie. "We didn't even know there was a parade. We just came down to walk around," she said.
As the weather warms the crowds are likely to descend on the village from Pittsburgh, Youngstown and all over northeastern Ohio.
Bennett said the opening of the Geneva-on-the-Lake Visitors Bureau last year was a big success. He said the bureau is now open daily until October to provide visitors with information about the area.
The tourism season is about to kick into full gear throughout the area as Geneva State Park, Pymatuning State Park, Ashtabula Harbor, Lakeshore Park, Conneaut Township Park and many other areas draw people to the county.
