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A small crowd gathered at McDonalds on Saturday morning, as the restaurant held it’s grand reopening, after months of renovations. Face paint and balloon animals were provided for kids, while various items ranging from a bicycle to a TV were raffled off. In addition to reopening, the store also donated $1,000 each to both the Decatur County School System and Bainbridge Public Safety.

Storeowner Raphael Vazquez spoke with the Post-Searchlight about the renovations. Vazquez owns 21 McDonalds total, 17 in Florida and 4 in South Georgia, and only recently acquired the Bainbridge restaurant, at the end of December, 2020. “We were actually going to renovate it last year, but because of COVID and all of this stuff, I had everything ready to go, and then McDonalds corporation asked if I would push it back to 2022,” he explained. “It’s completely changed. We redid all the landscaping, the parking lot, the outside, the actual building we redid, changed the color of it.” Inside was a total change as well, from the walls, to the floors, to the furniture.

As for the donations, Vazquez said, “That is just part of being part of the community… I personally look at police departments, law enforcement, they do a lot of stuff, so I always want to show my appreciation of them. I know they have budgets, they have limited budgets, so I just want to give a donation to help with their budget.” He spoke of the school donation, saying, “A basic part of any community is having an education system, and I know they similarly have limited budgets, so I just wanted to make sure to give them money as well just to help with their budget.”

“I’m just happy to be part of the community,” Vazquez said. “I think Bainbridge is great. Great city, great town, a lot of great people. Just happy to be a part of South Georgia.”