Gray-8-Skate Family Entertainment Center is now officially owned by Joel Shiver, a young entrepreneur who has worked at the skating rink for seven years and plans to keep the roller rink the same entertaining place it has always been.
Tammy Wells, the former owner of Gray-8-Skate, is from Jones County, but recently moved to Milledgeville. She said Jones County is a community where people come together.
Shiver said he’s lived in Jones County his entire life. He said he loves going places and seeing people he knows.
“It’s very community oriented here; it has that home feel,” he said. “We travel a lot together for the skating rink, and something about crossing back into the county line makes you feel better, because you’re back home.”
Wells said it’s bittersweet to let the rink go, and she had hoped her children would take over the business, but she is happy Shiver took over since he had a lot of entrepreneurial spirit.
She said she met him when he was running another business, Brands. She said she’s happy she found someone to love the rink as much as she has.
“This is something we talked about for a long time. I was absent a lot sooner than I planned. Joel relied on me a lot, but he’s a lot more confident now. He needed to know he could do this without me, and I needed the confidence to know he could do it without me, too. Everything happens for a reason, but I’ll always be here to help him along the way,” Wells said.
Shiver said he’s excited to officially become the owner of the skating rink, and he plans to keep the vision of Gray-8-Skate the same. He said they are doing improvements, but it’s still the same place it has always been.
“I just celebrated being here for seven years. Tammy is still going to be here, so if we didn’t make it official that I’m now the owner, I don’t think anyone would know,” Shiver said. “I knew I wanted to own a business, but it never crossed my mind that I would own a skating rink someday.”
The former owner said something new they did recently was allowing Gray Community Church to have services every Sunday at the rink. She said there just aren’t a lot of places they could have had services, and this helps the church get on their feet.
“It’s our way of giving back.
They have done a great job of cleaning up afterwards, so we have no issues with them coming here. It was something they brought to us, and it fell into our laps by them just needing a place to go. I feel like God’s hands have always been here,” the former owner said.
Shriver said he wanted to take the last official step of saying owning the skating rink is his career since he is turning 30 years old soon. He said being a business owner is important and wants to make Gray-8-Skate for everyone, not just children. They are adding laser tag to the list of things people can engage in at the roller rink.
“I always wanted to own a business, and before coming here I did own a business.
I didn’t really know what I wanted to do, so it was a time of searching for what I wanted to do,” the owner said. “I have a desire to take things and make them bigger and better. This is where I’m supposed to be.”
