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Bill Gage's Lake Geneva Cruise Line--delivering daily mail around the lake for 102 years

KCBX | By Tom Wilmer
Published June 25, 2018 at 4:35 AM PDT
Lake Geneva Cruise Line vessels ready to take people out on lake adventures
Thomas Wilmer

A conversation with Bill Gage, third-generation steward of Gage Marine and the iconic Lake Geneva Cruise line that’s been delivering the daily mail via boat for 102 years.

Gage Marine is intimately involved in life on the lake, from putting in and taking out lakefront piers, operating the Pier 290 lakefront restaurant in Williams Bay, repairing water craft, boat sales and just about anything aquatic related.

Lake Geneva vista from Pier 290 restaurant in Williams Bay.
Credit Thomas Wilmer
Lake Geneva vista from Pier 290 restaurant in Williams Bay.

Among Gage’s pride and joys is the legendary wood-hulled Gage-Hacker boat that’s been an icon on Lake Geneva since the early 1960s.  

Pier 290 Restaurant in Williams Bay on Lake Geneva was created in the former Gage Marine repair facility and boat building shop.
Credit Thomas Wilmer
Pier 290 Restaurant in Williams Bay on Lake Geneva was created in the former Gage Marine repair facility and boat building shop.
Bill Gage at Pier 290 restaurant in Williams Bay on Lake Geneva, Wisconsin
Credit Thomas Wilmer
Bill Gage at Pier 290 restaurant in Williams Bay on Lake Geneva, Wisconsin
Journeys of Discovery with Tom Wilmer NPR One, Apple Podcast album art
Journeys of Discovery with Tom Wilmer NPR One, Apple Podcast album art

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Journeys of Discovery with Tom Wilmer winner of the Lowell Thomas Award 2017, 2016, 2015, 2013
Credit SATW Foundation
Journeys of Discovery with Tom Wilmer winner of the Lowell Thomas Award 2017, 2016, 2015, 2013
Underwriting support provided by the Society of St. Vincent de Paul
Credit Society of Saint Vincent de Paul
Underwriting support provided by the Society of St. Vincent de Paul
Tags
Travel WisconsinNPR OneLake GenevaGage Marine
Tom Wilmer
Tom Wilmer produces on-air content for Issues & Ideas airing over KCBX and is producer and host of the six-time Lowell Thomas award-winning NPR podcast Journeys of Discovery with Tom Wilmer. Recorded live on-location across America and around the world, the podcasts feature the arts, culture, music, nature, history, science, wine & spirits, brewpubs, and the culinary arts--everything from baseball to exploring South Pacific atolls to interviewing the real Santa Claus in the Arctic.
See stories by Tom Wilmer
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