Resident Community Supporter: Kevin Dowden

I’m originally from Kokomo, Indiana and I graduated from high school at Clinton Central located in Michigantown. After I graduated, I moved up here and accepted a position with the sheriff’s department, and eventually became a deputy. I retired from the department after 17 years, six years ago. That same year, I took a job at the prosecutor’s office as their investigator, which is where I’m currently employed.

About seven or eight years ago, I got into flipping houses. I’ve done several since then, as well as some other small construction projects for people. When I started doing small projects for people, the amount of work I was doing really took off. There are not a lot of people doing that in this area. I became so busy I started thinking, ‘Maybe I should start my own construction company and see where that takes me. So, I did just that: I started Kevin Dowden Construction.

We live in an older home in Kentland that we renovated and brought back to life. As a matter of fact, we just bought another older home here in town that we’re going to renovate that’s directly across the street from the town’s pool and parks. We’re excited to see a new family enjoy this location.

Living in Kentland has been a great experience and I really enjoy it. It’s a small town yet it has a lot of amenities to offer, whether you want to dine out, visit one of our several parks or enjoy local shopping.

There’s this country song where the singer talks about not needing to know celebrities because in his town, everyone is a celebrity. Everybody knows each other, and that’s kind of the way Kentland is. You walk into the grocery store and you know at least 10 people. It’s a very tight-knit place to live.

I would say the greatest contribution people can make to their town is to make a positive impact whenever possible, whether you’re a volunteer, a civil servant, or even if you like to take these old homes and make them nice again. So across the spectrum, just try to do something that’s positive. For instance, it’s great to serve in community events. Last December, we had one called Christmas in the Air, which was a pretty neat thing. I know the Arnolds, Davis’s, numerous volunteers and the town put a lot of time and effort into events like these. There are a few other small towns around here that have different events that we attend. In the south end of Newton County, the towns are essentially eight miles apart from each other, so It’s kind of one big community.

As far as Kentland goes there are so many wonderful places to visit, however my favorite spot to be in is our backyard. That’s our oasis. Kentland is known as a golf cart-friendly community. So on random evenings, people hop on their golf carts and just cruise around town to chat with their neighbors. We. really enjoy that. At the end of the day, I just want the town to be known for exactly what it’s known as, a welcoming, dynamic community.

“Everyone has to be from somewhere, I’m glad to say I’m from Kentland” ~ George Ade