Tourism

Two words sum up Chris Buttleman’s outlook on life. “Music saves.” The founder-owner of the Lake Geneva House of Music lives and works to the rhythm of that beat.

The House of Bogini – open just over a year at 152 Center St., Lake Geneva – is a small space with big ambitions. It’s unique. Like its owner, the irrepressible Sasha Butinas.

Beautiful lake. Forested, rolling hills. Impeccable green golf courses. Unparalleled hiking and biking trails. Our region in southern Wisconsin around Lake Geneva has it all.

“Oh, Christmas isn’t just a day. It’s a frame of mind.” The words may belong to Valentine Davies, the award-winning writer of Miracle on 34th Street, but the sentiment rings true for all of us.

Wisconsin is doing extremely well.”

So says Wisconsin Department of Revenue Secretary Peter Barca, who spoke to a full house last week at Pier 290’s Upper Deck meeting space in Williams Bay.

The tired but true saying about running a business – “If you’re not going forward, you’re going backward” – applies for tourism, too.

Imagine you are comfortably seated by a world-class lake, whose undulating waters sparkle in the sunlight. A cool breeze wafts ashore as the day’s heat slowly surrenders and evening gently descends.