The disco ball’s been dimmed inside haygood’s skating center in virginia beach but that doesn’t mean it’s lights out for owner brandon stokes labor love and it’s just passion pure passion he’s here on a monday a night the place is normally closed to give back usually at a skate rink or
Bowling alley there’s a lot of people the music’s real loud the lights are going crazy there’s a lot of kids or young adults that can’t can’t go into places like that so he created this a sensory friendly skate event where families with a loved one on the spectrum
Can enjoy an evening out without worry no strobe lights no blaring music the latest in a series of fundraisers and giveaways That has customers rolling into this neighborhood landmark even as the pandemic threatens to shudder local businesses just like this one we’re trying to reinvent how to still continue to give back to the community so we’re just trying to out thank ourselves sometimes when brandon and his wife bought this
Place a few years back this wasn’t his first go around the rink turns out he’s got a lot of history inside this building what do you think young brandon would say if he could look two years into the future dude if you would have told me at 15 years
Old that before you were 40 you were going to own the place that you hung out every single weekend almost your entire life i would have said sign me up and that’s what makes the business personal for brandon stokes that neighborhood kid all grown up investing in the next generation for now
Putting passion over profit if we show the community that it’s not all about that dollar right now that once all of this gets behind us they’re going to remember that the skater ink was here still trying to do what we can do to help a beacon of light for the community
During some of our darkest days in virginia beach blaine stewart news 3.
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