Downtown runs in the family

It’s 1:14 a.m. on a weekday when the Bowmans dole out their Taco Bell orders.

Bree Bowman, 31, brings her chalupa to the bed she shares with her husband, James “Jimmy” Bowman, 32, climbing under the covers. Jax, their golden retriever, hops onto the bed with her.

James watches his favorite show “Vikings” while eating spicy soft tacos at his computer.

Their two sons, Jayden, 12, and Rylan, 9, take their food and Baja Blast to their bedroom with their cousin Leland Sellards, 20. Not 10 minutes later, the younger boys are wrestling on the air mattress they share.

Meanwhile, the newest family addition, a 10-week-old Great Pyrenees puppy named Bear, soils a pee pad in his pen.

It’s a full house and full life for the Bowmans, who homeschool their boys. Nighttimes are their time to decompress and recharge, because catching them during the day is like playing Pokémon GO.

As owners of High Speed Collectibles, a collectible card and game shop, and Book Nook on Main, James and Bree Bowman spend much of their time downtown. In fact, most of it is spent in one building that houses both their businesses and their home. The high school sweethearts care deeply about the community where they fell in love, and relish sharing that love with others. It’s what inspired James to run for a seat on the Winchester City Commission.

If you can’t find Bree in the hidden room of her romantasy bookshop or James selling Pokémon cards, you might find them grabbing coffee from The Hall or boba from The Happy Corner. Not there either? Check Maka Mia Pizza and you might see them drinking Ale-8s with owner Mike Williams, after the couple buys lunch for a group of local police officers.

“Y’all are gonna change this town I hope,” Williams told them. “We need it.”

Bree and James have been living this fast-paced life from the day James proposed to “Marry Me” by Train at a nearby Italian restaurant. They then learned they were expecting at 18 and 19, Bree still in high school and James stationed in North Carolina as a fresh member of the U.S. Marine Corps.
He left his post, flying back for their intimate ceremony at the courthouse, next door to where they now live. The day after a one-night honeymoon at Natural Bridge State Resort Park, James was on a plane back to base.

“Three months after that, Jayden came along,” James said, from his seat on the tub as his youngest son, Rylan, stood on the bathroom vanity.
“Seems like everything just kind of happened really fast . . . I feel like that’s maybe why we’re so good at it now because we just got used to it at a very young age,” he said. “I wouldn’t change it for the world.”