Celebration Florida’s Fun Station Closes
April 4, 2010 by Jim Siegel
Filed under Around Town
The Family Fun Station, a Celebration Town Center business that has specialized in delivering family fun, has sadly decided to close its doors. Mike and Pattie Gaw, well-respected and much admired Celebration residents, announced the closing with a December 30 posting on the Front Porch website.
According to their post, “We have made a decision to close the Family Fun Station at the end of the business day on December 31st. We have made this decision for several reasons. First, the business as currently structured cannot generate sufficient income to justify remaining open; second,we have not had success in any attempts for the addition of different activities that would generate revenue;and third, we no longer can afford to pay the rent, utilities and wages required to remain open. We are saddened by this set of circumstances, and the fact that our dream of providing a wholesome place for the community,young and old, to relax and have fun will not be realized. We fully accept the fact that we made a business decision to open the Family Fun Station in October 2007, but as it turns out like thousands of other small businesses the decision in retrospect was not timely. We had hoped that the economy would improve and business would be better, but we learned a lesson that I well knew from my military experience that hope is not a method. “
Mike and Pattie were among the first residents of Celebration, having had their name chosen during the original lottery held by Disney in November 1995. A former army major general, Mike is one of the town entrepreneurs, and has served the community as a CROA board member. Pattie is a successful real estate agent who plans to continue that business.
The Gaws explained that they would be selling the contents of the Fun Station over the next few weeks, including games, vehicles, prizes and bikes. That includes the popular Celebration Express train that has given thousands of passengers a mini-tour of Celebration around the immediate Town Center area. Anything that is not liquidated would be donated to Give Kids the World, an organization that they have long supported.
Magnanimously, the Gawsacknowledged that many children have been saving redemption tickets and that they would do their best to redeem them for prizes, cash they can spend, or donations to a charity.
The Gaws can be contacted through the Front Porch posting thread or at the Fun Station while liquidation and clean-up proceeds.
Pattie and Mike concluded by noting, “We would like to sincerely thank each and every customer who has frequented the Family Fun Station, our long time immediate neighbors Kilwin’s Ice cream–the very best ice cream in the area, and our new neighbors the unique Spot Me Kids. We wish continued success to you both.”
Originally posted 2009-12-31 10:47:42.
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