GENEVA-ON-THE-LAKE — For years, Geneva-on-the-Lake Councilwoman Wilma Reppert has put her heart into her votes — and her famous apple bars.
Reppert, 86, has earned a reputation in the village as a tough voice and a great baker after 16 years on Village Council — bringing her sometimes salty opinions and her expertly baked goodies to the table week after week.
“I always try to say what is on my mind and to bring up the problems people come to me about,” she said.
Reppert decided not to run for village council again this year, stepping aside so others can step up into local government.
“I really wanted to run again, but my son said my time on council was over,” she said. “And he is right. I’d be 90 years old at the end of this next term.”
Reppert, who is affectionately called “The Betsy Ross of Geneva-on-the-Lake” for her work mending American flags for village display, always brought homemade baked goods to the council meetings.
A former GOTL citizen of the year, Reppert spends her time helping out the village Convention and Visitor’s Bureau and is a founding member of the GOTL Concerned Citizens.
Reppert was honored with cake and accolades at the annual village holiday party on Tuesday. Council also passed a resolution in her honor at the final council meeting of the year.
“Whereas, during her term of office, Wilma Reppert has always had a smile and a good word for everyone, attended council meetings religiously without winter trips to warmer climates, rarely missed a meeting without commenting on the condition of Presidential Drive or another neighborhood street and always brought to council homemade brownies, cookies or apple squares for members and the audience to munch and help keep them awake,” the resolution reads.
The resolution also outlines Reppert’s support in key village projects, including the sidewalk program and code enforcement projects, hiring and funding a full-time administrator, completing improvement projects on Hawley and Presidential drives as well as many much-needed improvements to the Wastewater Treatment Plant, a new village hall building and a new sewer out fall project.
Reppert said she worked to support the growth and sustainability of the village in hard economic times.
“I just feel that people should know what a great place this is,” she said. “Geneva-on-the-Lake has come a long way in the last 16 years. I am proud of our leaders and our people for working so hard to bring everything back.”
But don’t worry, Reppert won’t let council members forget about the condition of Presidential Drive or let them forget the goals she herself set years ago.
“I may not be on council, but I will still be around,” she said.
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