X For Boys founder brings ice skating back to the Good Life City

ALBANY, Ga. – One Albany man is giving back to the community to close out this year. And, he’s doing that by trying to bring a little but of winter to southwest Georgia.

King Randall, the founder of the X For Boys School set up this synthetic ice rink in the parking lot of the Albany Mall earlier in the week.

With King wanting to give people the opportunity to do something that’s very rarely possible in our area…enjoy a little ice skating.

“Obviously, it’s a little too warm, to have the real ice. But, we’ve got synthetic ice. And people have been enjoying it since we set up here. Our numbers have grown every single day. So, it’s been pretty packed,” said King Randall, Founder, X For Boys.

The operation of the rink is serving multiple purposes.

As the money collected from the rink is going back into the X.

And, as Randall tells us, it’s providing a major opportunity for people to see the faces of the X… including the students themselves.

“People have been able to come meet me, shake hands, and break bread with people that never get a chance to meet me, meet my students or meet my staff. So, we’re here to see everyone and develop a relationship with people we’ve never met before,” said Randall.

According to Randall, the rink has caught the attention from everyone, as they’ve had people come out in droves to skate on the synthetic ice.

“We’ve had a lot of traffic here ever since we opened. We have people waiting to come and do it. So, this year clearly has been successful. And, after just the first three days, we’re excited for the weekend. We’re believing the weekend is going to be extremely packed,” said Randall.

And, it’s certainly captured the hearts and minds of everyone, young and old.

“Everybody is like having fun. And, there is nothing wrong with having fun!” Journey Osborne, Leesburg.

How’re you liking this ice rink here, buddy?

“I say it’s pretty nice,” said Damoney Luke.

“It’s been great. We were very surprised about the atmosphere, and just everything’s been very good. Our grandkids have really enjoyed it,” said Robert Titus, Albany.

While the ice may not be the real deal, Randall knows that the good will he’s building with the people in the city and the X For Boys is very much real, and he’s hoping to make it a holiday tradition moving forward.

The rink runs from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. and will operate every day through January 3rd, weather permitting.

Brian Roche reporting.

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