Bob Bowen - 2021 (Citizen of the Year)
People over the years have likened Bob Bowen to Forrest Gump — invariably present at the significant events and moments that have helped to define the city of Davis for more than four decades.
The difference, of course, is Bowen wasn’t just always in the right place at the right time; he was, more often than not, the mastermind creating those events and ensuring they were pulled off without a hitch.
There were the smaller events: a dog park dedication or serving as emcee for a city employee service award ceremony. And there were big ones: creating the beloved annual Davis Children’s Nutcracker; preparing the city to host the start of the Amgen Tour of California bicycle race; or leading the effort to bring the U.S. Bicycling Hall of Fame to Davis.
As the longtime head of public relations for the city of Davis (until his retirement a year ago) Bowen was involved in all of it — dreaming up a new event or activity and then making it happen.
But outside his city job, Bowen made a similar impact, serving as a volunteer for numerous local non-profits, schools, community theater and more.
“Whenever there is a community festival, celebration or event, Bob is the conductor, a gifted impresario who makes everything not just happen, but happen with style and excitement,” said former state Sen. Lois Wolk, who served as Davis mayor during part of Bowen’s tenure.
Bob Bowen and Steve Wilkinson replace twinkle lights on Second Street in 2020. Fred Gladdis/Enterprise file photo
“When anyone working on a community event saw that Bob was involved, they knew it was going to be something special,” she said. “For example, the city employee awards ceremony saw him rappelling down from the Varsity Theatre ceiling with (former) City Manager John Meyer, and on another occasion, he dragooned a locomotive to bring City Council members and assorted children in costume to the station for a historical commemoration. He is a one-man Davis booster, and the entire city is his stage.”
Assistant City Manager Kelly Stachowicz would agree.
“If I look back on what has made Davis special to me and my family over the past 20 years, the common denominator is inevitably Bob,” she said. “From the Davis Children’s Nutcracker to participating in the Picnic Day Parade, from being able to explain the history of the high-wheel bike to visitors, to my then-5-year old son’s memory of ‘that time we saw the Harry Potter movie in a downtown street’ — Bob’s creative mind, unlimited energy and unbridled love for this community have made these experiences and memories possible.”
That impact on the city of Davis and its people, particularly its children, is why Bowen is this year’s recipient of the annual “Citizen of the Year Award” (formerly referred to as the Covell Award). Likely the only reason he didn’t received the award earlier is that city employees are not eligible.
Now in his first year of retirement, he is.
“Knowing his five decades of service to the people of Davis — not only in an official capacity, but through countless labors of love outside his civic career — I speak on behalf of the many friends and colleagues of Bob Bowen who wish to nominate the local icon as Citizen of the Year,” wrote former Davis Enterprise editor Debbie Davis in a nomination letter.
Bowen, said Davis, “may have undertaken some of his many activities as part of his job, but he always went above and beyond to create joyful celebrations that are integral to what makes Davis special for all of us.
“And in these challenging times of COVID-19, don’t we all need a bit of joy in our lives?”
The many ways that Bowen brought joy to the lives of Davisites is too long to list. But suffice it to say, any child that grew up in this city has him to thank for favorite childhood memories: from the aforementioned Davis Children’s Nutcracker, Picnic Day parade tand Harry Potter movies in the street, to Rainbow Summer camp, the holiday tree lighting and parade and so much more.
“Can you imagine any social event in Davis without Bob at the center of it, usually wearing his Uncle Sam costume?” asked Bev Sykes, longtime community theater supporter. “When I think of Bob, I think of the mobile stage, I think of how excited he was to discover an inflatable movie screen that he could set up in the park in the summertime, I think of parades and television coverage. And I think of how ‘The Davis Children’s Nutcracker’ grew from a 70-kid production to an event serving more than 250 kids each year. Bob is the social center of Davis, and it would be quite a different town without him.”
Bowen got his start in city service with the parks and recreation department not long after arriving in Davis as a high school student in 1968. He was serving as Davis High School’s student body president in his senior year when he was also asked by the city to lead its first summer teen program.
“That’s how I originally got involved in recreation,” he said.
After working as a temporary part-time recreation leader, Bowen was eventually hired full-time, “and stuck around with the city for 43 years,” he said.
He even sharpened his event-planning skills as a student at UC Davis, where he got involved managing the Picnic Day parade and later served as operations chair for all of Picnic Day.
“I learned as an undergraduate how to throw a party for 50,000 people,” he said with a chuckle.
“I thought, ‘Well, those are great skills; I don’t know if I’ll ever get paid for it.’ But it kind of turned out those skills have been applicable over the years … using the community as a venue to do something worthwhile that will benefit citizens in the community.
“Whether it’s the physical set-up or how things work, or fireworks on the Fourth of July or stages or lights or sound, trash and portable restrooms and traffic control — all these strange and unusual skills I’ve been able to apply.”
And the people of Davis have been the beneficiaries.
Bowen, though, says the people of Davis made it all possible.
“I feel a little bit embarrassed getting called out for things I’ve done when people quietly for years have done and continue to do amazing things, that don’t want any publicity,” he said.
“So its kind of humbling,” Bowen said of being named Citizen of the Year.
“People say it takes a village and it really does in Davis,” Bowen added. “There are so many people … that pop up and seem to make things run — the ones that roll up their sleeves and get their hands dirty and set up tables and chairs and clean up afterwards. Those are the folks that make so much happen in Davis and I’ve been fortunate enough to work with most of them.”
Bowen also credits his wife, Kate, a longtime Davis teacher, for her support “during my Davis community endeavors.
“Plus she puts up with all the craziness around the Bowen home when it comes to event crunch time,” he noted.
Parents of four and grandparents to five, the Bowens plan to focus on travel — when it’s safe to do so — and visiting family and friends during their retirement.
But Bowen won’t be disappearing from the local stage entirely.
Even in retirement he was the go-to person for Healthy Davis Together when the city-university partnership wanted to find a way to incentivize residents to get tested for COVID-19.
His longtime connections to local businesses paved the way for purchasing and distributing gift cards that not only rewarded those who were testing but also helped the local businesses themselves.
People still reach out for advice “for how to get stuff done,” Bowen said recently. “Luckily, I’ve been able to provide some input for events that have come up.”
One was the recent Zombie bike parade. Bowen gave some advice and ideas to organizer Aaron Wedra and then was recruited to serve as emcee when zombie parachuters landed in Community Park at the end of the ride.
“I said, ‘Sure. Zombies flying through the air? I’m up for that.’”
It was a continuation of the experiences he’s had from the start in Davis.
“I’ve had so many fun adventures and a front seat to Davis history since 1968, so it’s been a heck of a ride.
“And hopefully it continues,” he added. “I don’t plan to disappear.”
As for being named Citizen of the Year, Bowen said the award is humbling, “but on the other hand, it’s nice to know that your efforts haven’t landed you on a wanted poster in a post office somewhere.
“It’s nice that people have benefited from some of the things and the programs that I’ve been involved in,” he said. “And these events and activities have become part of the fabric of the community.
“Nobody goes into this stuff thinking that they’re going to get recognized. So it’s nice, but it’s really not the goal. The goal is just to make our town a little better community.”
Said former Enterprise editor Davis: “It has been the ‘Bowen touch’ that has played a mighty role in making Davis the welcoming, nurturing and progressive community it is today.
“Davis owes Bob Bowen a tip of its collective cap — and there is no better way to celebrate him than by honoring him as the Citizen of the Year.”
And so it shall.
— From the Davis Enterprise - December 23, 2021. Reach Anne Ternus-Bellamy at aternus@davisenterprise.net. Follow her on Twitter at @ATernusBellamy.
