Click Here to Return to Index

Click Here to Return to Milestones

 

Geneva "G"
Milestones Vol 17 No 1 Spring 1992

Although the big "G" on the Eastvale hillside is but a few years old, it has already become a tradition. It is new in the sense that Geneva is over a hundred years old.

Some years ago, some of the members of the 1928 class recruited a group of the class of 1929 for a special project. The underclassmen were directed to gather huge boulders from the surrounding hillside, and arrange them to form the letter "G".

Willing and eager freshmen are responsible for keeping the "G" clearly visible any place on the west side of the Beaver. A day is set aside each year for hiking up the steep hillside to the "G." The freshman boys clear away the weeds and brush from the center of the letter, and give it a new coat of white wash.

The "G" has had an exciting and eventful life at times. When Geneva suffered the loss of a football game with Grove City in 1927, the "G" showed a red face. The letter remained a crimson color until the Geneva basketball team defeated the Grove Citians later that same year, and then was given a new white wash.

On one or two occasions, students from rival colleges have vowed to change the white "G" to their own school colors. Prior to the Geneva-Grove City football game in 1938, it was learned via the underground that Grove City planned a secret attack in the dead of night to paint the "G." Watches were setup to guard the "G." Meanwhile some wide awake Genevans journeyed to Grove City, white wash in hand, where they added a touch of white to the sidewalks in front of the opposing team's college buildings. It was a strategic move, and left the Grove City students in a flabbergasted state. The "G" remained.

Lighting the "G" at night football games was the enterprising idea of Wayne Cornelius, 1939 freshman class president. He, with some assistants, went to the "G" and placed red flares along the stones outlining the huge emblem. Geneva was playing W. and J. Halfway through the second quarter, Geneva's Tony Ciolli streaked down the field for a 68-yard touchdown. At that instant, the five thousand spectators in Reeves Stadium turned astonished eyes up to the brilliantly glowing "G." They expressed their appreciation with loud cheers and applause. The boys were watching the game through binoculars, and when they saw Geneva score, they ignited the flares.