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The Lobby celebrates first anniversary after year of gaming and community growth

October 15, 2026   ·   0 Comments

By Joshua Drakes, Local Journalism

The Lobby in Orangeville celebrated its first anniversary on Oct. 9, marking a year of growth that saw the gaming lounge become a gathering place for players, new friendships and community partnerships.

Located at 229 Broadway, The Lobby reached the milestone after a busy first year that exceeded owners Daniel Glassford and Britney Boardman’s initial expectations.

What began as an opportunity to share his passion for gaming developed into a regular destination for after-school visitors, adult members, birthday celebrations and organized gaming activities.

“I was thinking about how nervous I was around this time a year ago,” Glassford said. “Are people going to come in? Is this something that’s a big passion of mine? Before we knew it, we had 72 birthdays, gathered a regular crowd of people. I wasn’t expecting it. People know each other now, people became friends that wouldn’t have even known each other if this didn’t exist. Different schools, different things like that.”

Saturdays became particularly busy, with the venue occasionally reaching capacity as families and groups arrived to game.

The business also expanded its staffing to help accommodate the growing number of visitors, while regular after-school attendance helped establish a consistent community of members. For some, the lounge became more than somewhere to play video games, providing an opportunity to meet people from different schools and backgrounds and build friendships around a shared interest.

Community partnerships were another highlight. The Lobby supported local teams and hosted events for community organizations.

“Building community partnerships has been great,” Glassford said. “Sponsoring teams, giving them events, local HABI, Community Living, Autism Ontario is huge. That’s a really big deal in our family. So being able to be part of that was pretty awesome.”

The experience also opened the door to potentially hosting similar events in the future.

Since opening, The Lobby continued to expand its offerings. Its gaming library grew from approximately 1,300 titles to more than 2,200, giving visitors a wider selection of games across different genres and generations. The collection appealed both to younger players exploring current releases and to adults looking to revisit familiar favourites.

Another addition was a gaming leaderboard that encouraged friendly competition. Players could earn points by completing challenges across 20 gaming categories, ranging from accessible tasks to more difficult achievements. The online leaderboard attracted approximately 380 participants, giving members another reason to return and improve their scores.

Organized activities also became part of the weekly schedule. Fortnite Club developed into a regular Tuesday gathering, while staff members introduced other clubs and challenges. These activities gave visitors opportunities to learn new games, compete against one another and connect with fellow players.

Looking ahead, Glassford said the focus remained on growing the community and reaching more people. While future expansion was a possibility, the first year established a foundation for The Lobby to build on.

“Anything is on the table for us, we want to grow,” he said. “We want to reach more people. We want more people to love gaming as much as we do. For now, we’ll stick with this and expand from here. But other locations are not something that’s out of the question.”

As the business entered its second year, its original goal remained the same: creating a welcoming space where people could enjoy video games while forming connections that extended beyond the screen.

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