By SHELLEY TERRY - sterry@starbeacon.com
Star Beacon
GENEVA-ON-THE-LAKE —
Monday marked the unofficial end of summer. A day to sing Kid Rock’s, “All Summer Long,” for the partiers. The last day to wear white shoes for the fashion conscious.
It also was a day to go outside and enjoy Lake Erie — like the Armstrong family of Orwell. They were one of many people who strolled the beach and walked or drove “the strip” Monday at Geneva-on-the-Lake.
Erica Harper of Columbus drove up to spend the afternoon with her mother, Jeannie Harper of Geneva. The women walked and talked along the boardwalk.
“We going to have lunch,” Erica Harper said. “We’ll eat hot dogs at Eddie’s Grill.”
Mary Ann Lark of Hermitage, Pa., said, “I was just dying for something good to eat.”
Lark and her daughter, Carla McPherson, also of Hermitage, headed for Madsen Donuts. The line for donuts extended out to the sidewalk, but those folks who craved sweets waited patiently for their turn.
On a nearby bench, four members of the Johnson family of Warren ate pizza.
Steve Majka of Cleveland drove out to the lake “to see what it looks like,” he said.
Outside the SBG Saloon, passersby could hear a band playing singer/songwriter Jimmy Buffett’s “Margaritaville.”
Geneva resident Cory Bradley said he came to “hang out and play putt-putt” golf for the afternoon.
Lindey Pestello of Jefferson said she wanted pizza.
Lots of children and teenagers played in the arcades, as adults patronized the restaurants and wineries.
Motorcyclists and motorists rode up and down “the strip” all afternoon, but the wind and late-afternoon clouds made it a bit chilly for any real beachcombing.
Next weekend, thousands of motorcycles will descend on Geneva-on-the-Lake for Thunder of the Strip, an annual motorcycle rally and festival, giving residents and tourists another weekend to go down to the lake.
Dwayne Bennett, owner of Goblin Cycles in Geneva, helped organize the event.
This is the fourth year of Thunder on the Strip and it will feature the “Globe of Death” motorcycle stunt show, he said.
The stunt features two motorcyclists who circle the Globe of Death at the same time, criss-crossing inside the sphere. Stunt rider John Stott will take on the Globe of Death at the festival all three days.
“We just wanted to do something a little different this year,” Bennett said. “The Globe of Death is really interesting and I think a lot of people will enjoy it.”
Bennett and Sportsterz Bar and Grill owner Jake Hummel started Thunder on the Strip as a way to extend Geneva-on-the-Lake’s summer season.
