Downtown Warsaw Coordinator Retires After 12 Years
March 16, 2022 at 11:23 p.m.
Downtown Warsaw Coordinator Retires After 12 Years
By David [email protected]
Bowman retired from the position after serving in the role for the last 12 years, planning everything from car shows to primarily First Fridays.
“The fun part is ... to see Warsaw grow and bustle and be a thriving community, and everybody coming downtown and having a great time. That’s the icing on the cake,” she recalled in an interview during the three-hour open house for her at The Vic.
She said the challenges were just people trying to drive through the downtown events, but “really, it worked so smoothly, it was just great. And everybody showed up. Sold their stuff. Downtown merchants had great sales. And even if they didn’t have them that night, then the next day, if you didn’t have your kids with you, you can go try on clothes or go to the bookstore and go to the restaurants and, ‘Oh, I forgot that was there!’ That’s the objective behind it - reminding everybody that we have a really great downtown and that it’s still a viable, alive, thriving, little baby metropolis,” Bowman said.
Of all the events she had a hand in planning, Bowman said one of her favorites was the Vietnam War Memorial replica wall. She also thought the car shows were fabulous and the live music downtown was incredible.
“Such a talented community. It’s so exciting to be able to showcase them, and it was just great,” she said.
It was problems with her knee that made her decide to retire, she stated.
Serving as the downtown coordinator, she said, was “one of the best 12 years I’ve spent. I love my community.”
During a brief ceremony, Bowman was lauded by Keith Reinholt by phone, Main Street Warsaw and Kosciusko Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Rob Parker and Warsaw Mayor Joe Thallemer.
Reinholt told Bowman that one of the events he was most proud of working on with Bowman was their first First Friday. He said when he told Bowman about First Friday she “got behind this from day one.” They spent a lot of time working on it to get it done right.
“And then when it just got to the point where there needed to be somebody that could take it on full time, you stepped up to take it,” he said.
Reinholt thanked Bowman for everything she’s done to make the downtown and the community what it is today.
Parker extended gratitude to Bowman from Main Street Warsaw.
“Paula, you’ve done an amazing job 12 years working your butt off,” he said. “In the sun, in the snow, in the rain, in the cold, in the wind, you’ve been a constant and work hard.”
He thanked her and presented her a gift of an inscribed brick.
“Because you are such a brick, a mortar stone of every First Friday,” Parker said.
Thallemer said when he took over as mayor, he knew that his first challenge was to get someone to serve as the coordinator. “I wanted to get somebody that I could trust ... I knew you were the right person,”?he said.
With all the hours, creativity, planning and set-up Bowman put into the position, Thallemer said he knows she didn’t make much per hour. “But we were happy to at least make it somewhat of a paid position. I know that was never really why you did it. It was nice to have a little bit of compensation, but I think the satisfaction you got from pulling off an event, just watching faces and the kids, watching the Optimist Club enjoy their car show, Spooktacular, Twinkle Parade, all those things, just watching the community react to those events and you were always behind it,” he said.
No matter what the weather was, Thallemer said Bowman was there.
“No one worked harder than Paula,” he said.
Thallemer said he tried thinking of all the “great” events that Bowman came up with. To him, the highlights included the events honoring veterans, especially the first one honoring World War II veterans. He said that one was respectful and set the stage for the veteran events that followed.
Another highlight was the Vietnam remembrance weekend. The traveling wall came in and ended up down at Central Park. It turned into a three-day weekend event and Thallemer said it was great.
“It was just your touch on that. It was perfect,” he said, saying she did a great job.
When First Friday moved to Market Street for one time for the city’s Stellar event, Thallemer said that was another nice one.
“I know how hard Paula worked and for the last 10 years, as mayor, I knew I could always count on Paula. There were certainly ups and downs - weather particularly created the downs, and, I guess, with an outdoor event that’s the way it goes. Somehow, Paula, in the middle, with ice sculptures and the howling cold, she was still out there smiling,” he said.
He thanked Bowman for “answering the call” and serving with dignity, hard work and creativity. On behalf of the city, he presented her with a Warsaw Cut Glass bowl as a parting gift.
Bowman retired from the position after serving in the role for the last 12 years, planning everything from car shows to primarily First Fridays.
“The fun part is ... to see Warsaw grow and bustle and be a thriving community, and everybody coming downtown and having a great time. That’s the icing on the cake,” she recalled in an interview during the three-hour open house for her at The Vic.
She said the challenges were just people trying to drive through the downtown events, but “really, it worked so smoothly, it was just great. And everybody showed up. Sold their stuff. Downtown merchants had great sales. And even if they didn’t have them that night, then the next day, if you didn’t have your kids with you, you can go try on clothes or go to the bookstore and go to the restaurants and, ‘Oh, I forgot that was there!’ That’s the objective behind it - reminding everybody that we have a really great downtown and that it’s still a viable, alive, thriving, little baby metropolis,” Bowman said.
Of all the events she had a hand in planning, Bowman said one of her favorites was the Vietnam War Memorial replica wall. She also thought the car shows were fabulous and the live music downtown was incredible.
“Such a talented community. It’s so exciting to be able to showcase them, and it was just great,” she said.
It was problems with her knee that made her decide to retire, she stated.
Serving as the downtown coordinator, she said, was “one of the best 12 years I’ve spent. I love my community.”
During a brief ceremony, Bowman was lauded by Keith Reinholt by phone, Main Street Warsaw and Kosciusko Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Rob Parker and Warsaw Mayor Joe Thallemer.
Reinholt told Bowman that one of the events he was most proud of working on with Bowman was their first First Friday. He said when he told Bowman about First Friday she “got behind this from day one.” They spent a lot of time working on it to get it done right.
“And then when it just got to the point where there needed to be somebody that could take it on full time, you stepped up to take it,” he said.
Reinholt thanked Bowman for everything she’s done to make the downtown and the community what it is today.
Parker extended gratitude to Bowman from Main Street Warsaw.
“Paula, you’ve done an amazing job 12 years working your butt off,” he said. “In the sun, in the snow, in the rain, in the cold, in the wind, you’ve been a constant and work hard.”
He thanked her and presented her a gift of an inscribed brick.
“Because you are such a brick, a mortar stone of every First Friday,” Parker said.
Thallemer said when he took over as mayor, he knew that his first challenge was to get someone to serve as the coordinator. “I wanted to get somebody that I could trust ... I knew you were the right person,”?he said.
With all the hours, creativity, planning and set-up Bowman put into the position, Thallemer said he knows she didn’t make much per hour. “But we were happy to at least make it somewhat of a paid position. I know that was never really why you did it. It was nice to have a little bit of compensation, but I think the satisfaction you got from pulling off an event, just watching faces and the kids, watching the Optimist Club enjoy their car show, Spooktacular, Twinkle Parade, all those things, just watching the community react to those events and you were always behind it,” he said.
No matter what the weather was, Thallemer said Bowman was there.
“No one worked harder than Paula,” he said.
Thallemer said he tried thinking of all the “great” events that Bowman came up with. To him, the highlights included the events honoring veterans, especially the first one honoring World War II veterans. He said that one was respectful and set the stage for the veteran events that followed.
Another highlight was the Vietnam remembrance weekend. The traveling wall came in and ended up down at Central Park. It turned into a three-day weekend event and Thallemer said it was great.
“It was just your touch on that. It was perfect,” he said, saying she did a great job.
When First Friday moved to Market Street for one time for the city’s Stellar event, Thallemer said that was another nice one.
“I know how hard Paula worked and for the last 10 years, as mayor, I knew I could always count on Paula. There were certainly ups and downs - weather particularly created the downs, and, I guess, with an outdoor event that’s the way it goes. Somehow, Paula, in the middle, with ice sculptures and the howling cold, she was still out there smiling,” he said.
He thanked Bowman for “answering the call” and serving with dignity, hard work and creativity. On behalf of the city, he presented her with a Warsaw Cut Glass bowl as a parting gift.
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