"There has been a member of the Payne family in Lake Geneva since 1836. Christopher Payne was the first white settler in the area and he built a mill where Mill Creek Hotel is now. He has a stone there to honor him and another by the spillway near Flat Iron Park.
The neighborhood where I grew up, just two blocks away, had so many kids there when I was young. Every night we'd play kick the can, or flashlight tag, or whatever we wanted, and then went to someone's house and ate all their food. There were probably like 12 of us that would run around and we didn't have to worry about anything. We didn't have any problems. It’s interesting to go back to that neighborhood. No one lives there anymore. In the homes, they're all Airbnbs or businesses. It's crazy to think, how that wasn’t that long ago and what a great childhood we all had growing up here.
I lived in Colorado and Arizona for a while, but moved back to the area when a position at Hillmoor became available. This was right after 9/11, I was in the hotel business, and we were doing new construction. We had eight or nine contracts, and they all stopped. I’m like, ‘What am I gonna do?’ And then a friend called me from Hillmoor and offered me a job during the summer since my business was down. My sister had some room in her house so I lived with her, and worked at Hillmoor as their Food & Beverage Director. I missed being there. I missed the four seasons. I decided to stay. When Hillmoor closed its doors I needed a new job and started working at Clear Water Outdoors. I’ve been here for 16 years.
I try to stay involved in the community as much as I can. I love the farmers market, but I'm biased because I run it. Every Thursday, May through October, we have a lot of people come to that. Horticultural Hall, which is another gem, is doing a great job. I wish everybody would stop by and say ‘hello’, because to see those inside gardens, the water fountain, the whole place, it's a really historical thing. It was built in 1911, around the same time they were building the local Country Club. Not many people know this, but in the 60’s, Horticultural Hall got kind of run down. The City almost sold it to Greyhound Bus for $1 but the trustees, four of them, stepped up. They said, ‘We're not selling this.’ And they got the place back up to where it should be, and it's flourished since." - Sean Payne, General Manager, Clear Water Outdoor
Comentarios