LEWISTON, Maine — It’s a dilemma no business owner should have to face: whether to reopen after a mass shooting.

The answer didn’t come easily to Justin and Samantha Juray. But when they did decide to reopen their Maine bowling alley, they didn’t hold back.

When patrons return Friday, six months after the gunman opened fire, they will see inspiring pictures at the end of each lane, bright paint on the walls, and new floors. The Lewiston venue has undergone a complete makeover, giving it a vibrant, airy feel.

Samantha Juray gets emotional when recalling the events of Oct. 25, when the gunman killed eight people at the bowling alley before driving to a nearby bar and pool hall where he killed 10 more during the deadliest shooting in the state’s history. He later died by suicide.

“It’s never going to leave my head,” Juray said this week, as she made final preparations to reopen. “I think if we don’t move forward — not that there was a point to this whole thing anyway — but we’re just going to allow the people that have taken so much from us win.”

Justin Juray initially was dead-set against reopening and they also got some negative outside feedback. But that all changed, she said, as people in Lewiston rallied behind them. Within weeks, they knew they had to reopen, Samantha Juray said.

They decided to keep the same name: Just-In-Time Recreation. They call it that because when they bought the venue three years ago, the owner was days away from shutting it down. It also fits with Justin’s name.

Across the country, people have taken varied approaches after mass shootings. Barbara Poma, the former owner of the Pulse nightclub in Florida where 49 people were killed in 2016, said every situation and community is different.

“You are suddenly thrown into a state of shock, and emotions dictate your thoughts,” Poma said in an email. “Eventually you are forced to make a critical business decision based on how it will impact others emotionally and publicly. There just is no easy or right answer.”

The City of Orlando last year agreed to buy the Pulse nightclub site to create a memorial.

In Aurora, Colorado, a movie theater where 12 people were killed in 2012 later reopened under a new name. Buffalo’s Tops Friendly Market reopened in 2022, two months after 10 Black people were killed.

In Newtown, Connecticut, Sandy Hook Elementary School was razed, and there also are plans to bulldoze Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas.

In Lewiston, Kathy Lebel, who owns the second business hit by the gunman, Schemengees Bar & Grille, also hopes to reopen at a different venue.

At the bowling alley, Tom Giberti said people are “so excited to get us back.”

Giberti, who has worked at the bowling alley for 20 years, is credited with saving the lives of at least four children the night of the shooting. He ushered them along a narrow walkway between the lanes to an area behind the pins. Before Giberti could get to safety himself, he was shot in both legs and hit with shrapnel.

After undergoing surgery, it wasn’t long before Giberti stopped using the mobility walker he’d been given. These days, he enjoys playing golf and shows few physical signs of his injuries as he strides about the bowling alley.

A lot of people in Lewiston have helped get the venue reopened, he said.

“The community has been phenomenal,” Giberti said. “They’ve been right here for us, they’ve been supporting us.”

The makeover of the bowling alley includes a new scoring system and many tributes, including a table featuring pictures of the eight who died at Just-In-Time, and bowling pins with the names of the 18 shooting victims from both venues.

Among those killed were two bowling alley staff members. Most of the staff who survived are returning to work at the venue.

Samantha Juray said they are fully prepared to serve customers again and can’t wait to see the familiar faces of regulars as they get used to a new normal.

Among those planning to speak at a ceremony Friday afternoon is Maine’s governor, Janet Mills, a Democrat.

“I’m excited about opening,” Juray said. “I know it’s definitely going to be a very long day, and probably an emotional day.”

You have to love how small Portland is. So small, where you can’t even accidentally drive in the wrong direction without being caught.. or in this case, on the wrong piece of earth? This is a weird thing to write about because I don’t think that anybody who’s commenting on this poor guys car on Facebook has any idea what’s actually happening in the photo.

The best part is, my good friend Nate over at Portland Old Port tagged me in this photo that was posted to his Facebook and of course I had to make a blog about it as he would expect, so here we are. He’s going to laugh when he reads that part.. Hi Nate thanks for the content :)!

Okay so this dude named Pete Peterson who has a “top poster” badge next to his name on Portland Old Port’s Facebook, posted a photo of this Tesla just chillin driving down the boulevard in Portland, just not on the road. This is the photo that then generated over hundreds of comments below it.

It’s wild to me that this is the photo that started such a huge conversation online, but I guess that’s what happens when we’re all cooped up inside bored. However, as the internet does to us, I’m not invested, and I now need somebody to tell me once they figure out the real story, what exactly was going on here. Also please have them reach out to me so I can interview them on my show LOL!

I’m a Portland Walker.

Well, more like a Portland commute walker.

I park about 10 minutes away from my office. What should be a nice, leisurely stroll to the office is more like a real-life game of Frogger. And the fault specifically lies with the motorists in this town.

A ridiculous number of drivers in Portland don’t acknowledge stop signs anymore. It’s an epidemic that needs to be discussed and eradicated.

My walk to the office includes five crosswalks. This includes the corridor of Middle Street that has three straight stop signs on the intersections with Exchange, Market, and Pearl.

My track record for acknowledging a car allowing me to go is a whopping 100%. Not that I need to brag. It literally takes zero effort. However, that effort is not reciprocated. And, quite frankly, if I didn’t pay attention, I would most certainly be dead or severely injured by now.

Drivers just simply roll through or cruise right by these stop signs. This has nearly become a daily occurrence. It’s not like these stop signs are new. It’s been years since they were installed. They are incredibly clear and visible. You have to be a neanderthal to miss them. Just a sheer dummy.

Sure, may you accidentally miss one (though, very unlikely). But more often than not, drivers just stroll right through two or three of them, and typically without a care in the world. I would find it more fascinating if my life wasn’t being put on the line every stinking day.

As for the stop sign rollers, you know, the ones who pretend to stop even though they don’t? Well, they are just jerks. God, forbid you wait 20 seconds while a walker crosses safely in front of you. Instead, you never stop your car, which intimidates a walker, and gives you the excuse to just keep going. Just pure class from humanity’s lowest life forms.

I decided to write this today, because I just need to protect myself as well as my fellow walking brethren. The human body doesn’t exactly bounce off a fender too nicely.

I plead with drivers to follow these steps.

1. Pay Attention – This is pretty self-explanatory.

2. Obey Traffic Laws and Right of Ways – You shouldn’t have a license if this is a problem for you.

3. Stop Means Stop – This really isn’t difficult.

4. Don’t Hit Walkers – Please don’t.

5. Go on Living Your Life – Have fun out there.

It’s amazing how easy it is to, you know, be a civil human being.

We are a broken society. However, it can be fixed. It might not be easy…just kidding, it’s super easy. Stop being jerks, obey traffic laws, and look out for one another.