Biking Is In The Blood Of Greg Demopoulos
WINONA LAKE — If it has something to with bicycling or the trails especially in Winona Lake or Warsaw, chances are Greg Demopoulos is involved one way or another. An avid cyclist who grew up riding BMX bikes in northwest Indiana, he is actively involved in the care and promotion of local trails.
Demopoulos has an impressive “resume” of working with bicycling organizations. He has been a member of Kosciusko County Velo Club (velo is the French word for bicycle) since it began in the early 2000s and is the current president of the club. He is co-founder of the annual Fat & Skinny Tire Festival, which started in 2004. And he is on the Ride+Walk Advisory Committee, formed in 2011 to oversee and promote bicycle related projects.
Also, if that were not enough, he helped in the detailed process of getting Warsaw to be named a bicycle friendly community.
A 1993 graduate of Hanover Central High School in northwest Indiana, he grew up in Dyer near the Illinois state line. He then enrolled at Ball State University where he majored in marketing and public relations.
It was at Ball State Demopoulos made the connections to eventually move to the Warsaw area. “I was president of the cycling club at Ball State and a friend introduced me to mountain biking,” he said. That led to a college internship at Sun Metal Products in Warsaw, a builder of bicycle parts, especially wheels.
“I was later offered full-time work there (Sun Metal) and moved here in December of 1997,” upon graduation from Ball State. While at Sun Metal, he handled marketing, product development and athlete contracts until 2001 when he accepted a position at Zimmer in Warsaw, although he still did some free lance work for Sun Metal.
Sun Metal, formerly located on Detroit Street (SR 15) on Warsaw’s north side, was bought out and relocated to Milwaukee.
At the Zimmer building near Boggs Industrial Park, Demopoulos worked in marketing communications from 2001 to 2008. He and his family had been attending Warsaw Community Church since 2001. Not necessarily actively seeking to leave Zimmer, he was approached by the church and asked to consider being its communications director.
Although not really looking to leave, he admitted a change of pace allowing him to spend more time at home was a consideration. In 2008, he accepted the position of communications director at WCC, a position he still holds.
He oversees four others on a communications team and monitors the internal and external communications for the church and takes care of the website, smartphone app, church bulletin, any promotional needs and social media.
“I like having an impact locally and worldwide through missions partners,” he said about his job. “We can encourage people in their struggles and build relationships with people.”
Naturally he finds time each week to ride on the greenway and other trails whether with a mountain bike or a road bike. He rides with groups or with his family. “I’m responsible for overseeing the upkeep of the off road mountain bike trails in Winona Lake,” he said, adding he helps with other events occurring in The Village in Winona.
Greg is married to Maria, who works for Warsaw Community Schools, and they have four children: sons Alexi (21) and Eli (14) and daughters Eva (9) and Ari (4). The family lives in Winona Lake.