WWW.QNS.COM RIDGEWOOD TIMES MAY 24, 2018 17
REMEMBERING MARIA THOMSON
New Greater Woodhaven director
follows Maria Thomson’s legacy
BY RYAN KELLEY
RKELLEY@RIDGEWOODTIMES.COM
TWITTER @R_KELLEY6
Tucked in the back corner of the
Greater Woodhaven Development
Corporation’s (GWDC)
third-fl oor offi ce on Jamaica Avenue
is a large wooden desk with an empty
leather rolling chair. It’s covered with
paperwork, framed pictures and other
knick-knacks, and its size and position
in the room makes it clear that this is
where the boss sits.
Ever present among the clutter is
the nameplate on the desk that reads,
“Maria Thomson.”
Since the longtime GWDC director
and community advocate passed away
in January, her desk has remained
untouched. It’s symbolic of the way
Thomson was always present in the
neighborhood, and even though former
secretary Lisa Komninos took
over as the new executive director,
she doesn’t plan to take Thomson’s seat.
“She didn’t just work nine to fi ve,
she worked at night and anybody
could call her any time for any kind
of problem,” Komninos said of her
former boss. “Stepping into that role
is very hard. Nobody can fi ll her shoes,
no matter what.”
Komninos sat at her own desk on
May 17, with Thomson’s a few feet
behind her, and refl ected on her time
spent with the GWDC. She took over as
the executive director in February after
18 years of serving as secretary and
learning under Thomson’s leadership.
It was an easy decision when she was
nominated by the board of directors,
Komninos said, because she is very
familiar with all the work and has a
good relationship with the stores and
businesses the GWDC works with.
Whether or not she will also serve
as the director of the Woodhaven Business
Improvement District — for which
she also serves as secretary — has yet to
be decided, but she is up for the task if
given the opportunity, she said.
She doesn’t plan to change anything
about how the organization operates
because of the precedent that Thomson
set, but Komninos hopes to bring
some new ideas to the table. For
example, the Woodhaven Street Fair
that Thomson founded will go on as
usual this summer, and Komninos
is looking into inviting new vendors,
new bands and other entertainment
that has never been there before.
Maria Thomson, the longtime director of the Greater Woodhaven Development Corporation, passed away in
January.
The greatest lesson Komninos
learned from the local legend was that
she too can put in the extra eff ort and
work in her off time to make sure the
community knows the organization is
still going strong, she said.
Komninos plans on joining Community
Board 9 (Thomson was a longtime
member of the advisory body), attending
other civic meetings in the neighborhood
and admitted there is one skill
that she is going to have to work on.
“I don’t do speeches,” Komninos said.
“That’s what Maria did, and I have to
get used to that. Going to meetings
and things like that, I’ve gone to them
but I’m always in the background. I
would just be taking the notes, but
now I actually have to do some public
speaking.”
Komninos also looks forward to continuing
other GWDC traditions such
as the Memorial Day Observance on
May 24 and the yearly dinner dance
File photo/Ridgewood Times
that Thomson always held to honor
local business people.
This year the dance will take
place on June 1, and aft er Komninos
discussed it with the other GWDC
employees, they decided that Thomson
would be posthumously honored
— and the lone honoree of the evening.
“Maria was always about fun,”
Komninos said. “I know she wouldn’t
want it to be a sad event, but we still
want to do a tribute to her.”
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