Swedish Days opens with music, entertainment, food, carnival rides

With temperatures in the 90s on Wednesday afternoon, opening day of Swedish Days in Geneva, ice cream seemed to be the thing – not only sweet but soothing in the heat.

The festival runs through Sunday, June 23.

Up and down Third Street, people held ice cream cones or ate from paper bowls, quickly, as the heat closed in, melting the confections.

Debra Berschbach of Geneva sat on a Third Street bench, eating Mackinac Island fudge ice cream from a cone. Chunks of chocolate fudge jutted out from the vanilla, swirled with more chocolate fudge, bought from Sweet Sensations, located in the Berry House, 227 S. Third St.

“I just moved here from Virginia,” Berschbach said. “I had been coming here for years because my daughter lives in St. Charles. And I had never heard of Swedish Days. So I thought I’d better come up and check it out. I just walked this block. Next I stopped to see the carnival rides, listened to a little music at the beer tent. There’s a lot of sales going on in the shops.”

She bought a plant from Grow Geneva, 220 S. Third St., and a doily for her table from The Little Traveler, 404 S. Third St.

“I’m going to go home and ride my bike back when it’s a little cooler later for the talent show tonight,” Berschbach said.

Nancy DiMarco and her daughter, Audrey, also of Geneva, came to Swedish Days because they wanted ice cream from Graham’s, 302 S. Third St. – butter pecan for Nancy and chocolate peanut butter for Audrey.

“It’s always great service, it’s homemade, it’s an independent business, supporting local,” Nancy DiMarco said.

And they did some shopping too – getting kitchen towels at The Little Traveler.

Bob Swiderski and Jim Sronkoski sat on a bench in the shade, taking a break from selling food at the Knights of Columbus booth at Third and Campbell streets.

“We have turkey legs. We have bratwurst. We have pork chop sandwiches,” Swiderski said. “We have roasted corn. We have french fries. Polish. We have cheese curds. We have all sorts of soft drinks and water.”

Swiderski’s favorite is the turkey legs while Sronkoski’s is the Polish.

And despite the blistering heat, business had been pretty good for opening day, Swiderski said.

The Knights’ booth, like the other food booths, are all run by volunteers for nonprofits.

“This is one of the biggest events of the Knights of Columbus,” Sronkoski said. “It’s one of the biggest fundraisers of the year.”

All the money raised goes back into the community through the Knights’ events and programs, Swiderski said.

Ellen Bonewitz of Sugar Grove and Maureen McKane of Aurora, just had lunch at Atwater’s Restaurant at the Herrington Inn & Spa, 15 S. River Lane, Geneva and decided to go for a walk during the festival.

“We saw these leather rugs at Cocoon,” Bonewitz said.

And McKane bought one.

“They were half price,” McKane said. “I got it for my son who lives in a bungalow in Chicago.”

Brian Norfleet of Chesterfield, Missouri – formerly of Batavia – was wheeling his 1-year-old grandson, Will, around while the rest of his family went shopping.

“We love it,” Norfleet said of Swedish Days. “Obviously, it’s hot, but it’s great to be back. We haven’t been here. It’s been 20 years, for Swedish Days.”

His daughter lives in Arlington Heights and they visit often to see their grandson.

Batavia resident Bill Ruby brought his toy poodle, Eva. His favorite part of the festival is the food.

“I’m going down to the Knights of Columbus ... a bratwurst,” Ruby said.

The festival continues through Sunday. A full schedule is available online at the Geneva Chamber of Commerce website, genevachamber.com.