Charles City Chamber says farewell to one event coordinator and welcomes another

By Travis Fischer, tkfischer@charlescitypress.com

As the summer events season winds down, Charles City Area Chamber of Commerce Events Coordinator Joanna Thompson is getting ready to pass on her position to a new member of the community.

Since 2020 Thompson has been the chamber’s event coordinator, working with area businesses, organizations, and volunteer groups to put on the chamber’s busy schedule of parties and promotions. New to Charles City at the time, Thompson entered the role of event coordinator under particularly unusual circumstances, having to plan and manage community events in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.

She hit the ground running in October, coming in just in time for the Halloween Spookwalk, which that year was done with a line-up of cars running down Main Street.

“That was four days after I started,” said Thompson. “For the first event I was pretty nervous because I didn’t know how it went.”

Much of the work on Spookwalk was done before Thompson was brought on board. It wouldn’t be until Party in the Park 2021 came around that Thompson felt she really had an event to call her own and she was happy with the response.

“It was fantastic,” said Thompson. “I think people were so excited to get out and mingle with people.”

Now, nearly three years later, Thompson has wrapped up her last Party in the Park event and is preparing to leave Charles City for Minneapolis to be closer to her family.

In her place, Eve Welton will be taking on the role of event coordinator.

Much like Thompson was when she started, Welton is new to the Charles City community. After studying business at a university in Thailand, Welton decided to explore her opportunities in the United States and, for the last five years, has been in Austin, Texas.

Looking for a change of pace, Welton caught wind of the event coordinator position in Charles City. Welton’s grandfather is a Charles City native who still lives in the community, creating a fortuitous opportunity for her.

“It was pretty exciting,” said Welton. “This is a great career opportunity to me.”

Over the last couple of weeks Thompson has been showing Welton the ropes, getting her ready to take on the job of coordinating events with the city’s various organizations.

“She’s going to do brilliantly,” said Thompson.

“I love event planning,” said Welton. “It’s one of the things I enjoy doing.”

As for Thompson, she is excited see what the next chapter of her life will bring, but says she will miss the small town community she has enjoyed in Charles City.

“I’m going to miss the camaraderie of working with different organizations.”