ALL IN GOOD TASTE
F orsyth’ s
R oyal F amily
Daniel clan passes Dairy Queen crown to a third generation
BY RICHARD DUMAS
One of Forsyth’ s most beloved restaurants is a chain that can be found in many cities, but few restaurants are as synonymous with a town as Dairy Queen is with Forsyth.
Dairy Queen, which has been at its current location at 200 North Lee Street since July 2005, has been a part of the Forsyth community since it opened in 1966 on East Johnston Street.
The Forsyth Dairy Queen has been owned by just one family since it was first opened 46 years ago. Jesse and Agnes Daniels, the aunt and uncle of current owner Ronnie Daniel, opened the town’ s first DQ near the train tracks on East Johnston Street at a location that later housed Big Chic.
In 1972, the restaurant moved where CVS pharmacy is on Tift College Drive before eventually moving to its current location off of I-75 at Exit 187.
Ronnie Daniel bought the franchise from his aunt and uncle in February 1990 and along with wife Laura has been operating it ever since.
Daniel was born in Macon and lived there until he was 15 years old before moving to Eatonton. There, in 1975, his father Emmitt bought a Dairy
Queen franchise from Daniel’ s uncle Jesse.
While attending Putnam County High School, where he graduated in 1979, Daniel learned the tricks of the trade at bought his uncle’ s Dairy Queen. Whenever Daniel retires, he hopes it will stay in the family even longer, as son Kyle, 27, is already the restaurant’ s general manager.
Ronnie Daniel, owner of the Forsyth Dairy Queen, has passed the general manager responsibilities to his son Kyle Daniel.
his father’ s DQ restaurant. Daniel then attended college briefly at Georgia College in Milledgeville, where he met his future wife when they both worked at the TG & Y general store.
After working at Horton Homes in Eatonton for 10 years, Daniel moved to Forsyth and
For as long as Dairy Queen has been in Forsyth, it has been known for charitable generosity. Every summer, usually in August, the Forsyth Dairy Queen, along with other participating franchises throughout the nation, holds Miracle Treat Day in which at least $ 1 earned off of
every blizzard sale is donated to the Children’ s Miracle Network. Since the inaugural Miracle Treat Day in 2006, Daniel has strongly supported the occasion, which frequently draws customers from all over Middle Georgia. Last year, the restaurant raised over $ 1,800 on Miracle Treat Day and has raised as much as $ 2,700 in previous years.
Dairy Queen has also played host to numerous other fundraisers, such as Katie Sanders Day, which benefited a local teen who had a brain tumor, as well as numerous car washes to raise money for local cheerleaders, bands and sports teams.
Daniel said the biggest thing he is able to do as a restaurant owner is to share his Christian faith. Daniel and his wife, who attend RockSprings Church in Milner, host weekly men’ s and women’ s devotionals over breakfast at his restaurant that are open to anybody. He also insists that Christian music be piped through Dairy Queen’ s speaker system.
Laura Daniel said of Dairy Queen:“ It’ s a good vehicle to share our faith and help others.”
She added that the restaurant’ s Christian emphasis sometimes surprises visitors.
“ I’ ve had people come up to us and say,‘ I can’ t believe that you guys are doing this.’
Ronnie Daniel said because Kyle and night manager Jacquelyn Traylor do such a good job handling the everyday management responsibilities, Daniel typically spends his time at work in a marketing role, visiting with customers, many of whom he knows by first name. However, even after 22 years, it is not uncommon for patrons to walk into Dairy Queen and see Daniel making Blizzards alongside his employees. He said he puts as much time as he does into his
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