[ad_1]
LEWISTON, Maine — In the aftermath of Maine’s deadliest mass shooting, owners of a Lewiston bowling alley and bar where a gunman killed a total of 18 people were certain they were closed.
But over time, they came to the same conclusion that they had to reopen.
In an interview with The Associated Press, Samantha Juray, co-owner of Just in Time Recreation, and Kathy Revell, co-owner of Skimenzies Bar & Grill, said their business, Oct. 25, He talked about the mass shooting, and how his thinking has changed since support from the government started coming in. Their families, the Lewiston community and people from all over the country.
___
Kathy Revell loved to play pool. However, she could not fit a full table in her house and she ended up spending too much money at the local pool hall.
Then one night in bed, her husband David mentioned that one of her hangouts, Skimenzie, was for sale. Rebel immediately stood up and said I should buy it.
“He looks at me and says, ‘I’m not buying that,'” Rubel said. “I’m like, ‘Are you kidding me?'” I’m going to buy it. I don’t know what I need, but I want that pool hall. ”
The level was as expected. After she purchased the store 25 years ago, she moved it and expanded it until it became Schemengees Bar & Grille.
She also ignored advice to change the name (the previous owner’s nickname), amused that people had trouble pronouncing or spelling the name correctly.
After her husband was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease 12 years ago, Rubel took on increased responsibility for the day-to-day management of the bar. She had her own health crisis, and she survived inflammatory breast cancer.
Rebel became most dependent on Joe Walker, whom she jokingly referred to as her work husband. They opened her second restaurant in Lewiston just as COVID-19 hit, and it has managed to weather the recession.
“He’s my biggest cheerleader,” Rebel says. “And he doesn’t give up.”
On October 25, Ms. Rubel took a rare night off to celebrate her husband’s birthday. Walker was sitting at the bar near the cornhole board when gunman Robert Card walked in.
Rebel’s cell phone lit up. She even read “Gun Mass Shooting.”
“I stood up and said, ‘Joe is dead,'” Revell says. “Because I always knew how Joe was doing.”
Witnesses said Walker tried to stop the gunman but died.
Hours later, Rebel posted a message on Facebook saying she was “heartbroken.”
Rebel said to himself: I quit. It’s over.” She didn’t want to leave the house.
But eventually she read some of the messages that were flooding in. That included questions about her plans from Lewiston’s deaf community, four of whom died at a bar while playing a cornhole tournament. She realized how much they wanted to give back. Some of her relatives begged her not to let it end.
“We finally decided we had to reopen,” Rebel said.
She says they need to be installed in a new location to erase the memory of that night. She doesn’t know how long it will take her.
But one thing is for sure: she’s keeping the name.
___
Justin and Samantha Juray are making further progress with their plans to reopen Just-in-Time Recreation, the place where Card first started firing. They’ve been tearing out the floors, repainting, and installing new seats.
“We’re just trying to change it up a little bit so that when people come in, it’s not a complete reminder of what it used to be,” says Samantha Juray. “Or an event.”
Juray said Justin was initially “absolutely against” reopening.
“Within a week, we knew we had to reopen,” Juray said. “The community kept asking us, because we knew everyone needed it.”
They got help from the American Bowling Employers Association, which waived annual fees, provided equipment upgrades and sent Christmas gift cards to employees.
“We’re like Americana. In a lot of small towns, we’re the place where everyone hangs out,” said Frank DeSocio, the association’s executive director.
Other companies affected by mass shootings have taken different approaches since then. In Aurora, Colorado, the movie theater where 12 people were killed in 2012 has since reopened with a new name. Last year, the city of Orlando, Florida, agreed to purchase the site of the Pulse nightclub in order to build a memorial to the 49 people killed there in 2016.
Juray’s hopes to reopen in March or April. They also plan to keep the name. When they bought the bowling alley nearly three years ago, the owners were closing in just a few days. So the name Just-In-Time is also a perfect name for Justin.
“It was, or was, a place where people could gather and spend time with friends and family or make friends and family,” says Samantha Juray. “This is a safe place.”
Two employees were killed in the shooting. The remaining 17 people are all expected to return.
One is Tom Ghiberti, 69, who worked at the bowling alley for 20 years and is credited with saving at least four children that night.
Giberti recalled picking up a screwdriver and working toward the back of the bowling alley when he heard the shot. At first, he said, he thought it was the thud of a bowling ball hitting the back of the lane. He saw panic on people’s faces and flashes of gunfire.
“I ran up to the kids and got behind them,” Ghiberti said. “And I took them back through the door, and when I turned around to go through the door, he shot me.”
One bullet remained lodged in the back of his left knee. The second one went completely through the side of his right leg, somehow missing bone and an artery. Ghiberti said he also received shrapnel in his legs as his bowling balls and machinery exploded around him.
Despite undergoing surgery and subsequent treatment for an infection, Ghiberti walked around greeting friends at a concert in Lewiston this month, where local musician Ken Goodman helped raise money for both projects. He appeared to be in good spirits at a concert held for him.
How does Ghiberti walk?
“It’s amazing. I can’t tell you why,” he says. “I’ve seen what it did to machines. I’ve seen what it did to other people. I don’t know. My leg should have been blown off right away. Either way. .”
Ghiberti said it took several visits before he returned to the area where he was shot. Now he can’t wait to start again.
“I’m really excited,” Ghiberti said. “It’s going to be a big thing for the community.”
[ad_2]
Source link
