Story by Diego Alcaraz-Monje and Brennan Hoskins
Photos by Brennan Campbell and Brodie Curtsinger
Ben Warrell, director of The Gasper River Catholic Youth Camp & Retreat Center, said he and his wife, Susan Warrell, were the only staff members when the camp began in 2008, despite Susan’s ambitions of opening an ice cream shop.
“She put her dreams on hold for me to help my dream come true and help this place become something special,” Ben Warrell said.
For nearly two decades, The Gasper River Catholic Youth Camp & Retreat Center has welcomed visitors of all ages to its site in Bowling Green.
Ben Warrell said the camp houses four different age groups, with each group having a weeklong session in June and July. He also said the camp is open to children of all beliefs.
“We teach Catholic doctrine, but we’ve had kids from every denomination and kids that have no church affiliation at all,” Ben Warrell said. “They had a great time and learned a little bit about the Catholic faith.”
Ben Warrell said his path to Gasper River was inspired by his experience working at a Methodist summer camp.
“I was like, ‘Where was this in the Catholic church when I was a kid?’” Ben Warrell said. “That’s really where my faith came alive and challenged me to understand.”
Ben Warrell said the Gasper River summer program has benefited many campers over the years. He said one of his favorite stories involved a timid middle school girl on Gasper’s small rappelling cliff.
“She was shaking and terrified at the top, but then, with each step, she grew in confidence,” Ben Warrell said. “That was a life-changing moment for her.”
Ben Warrell said that outside June and July, Gasper River serves as a center of various retreats, often for non-religious groups.
“We try to meet as many needs as possible,” Ben Warrell said. “Our whole mindset is that we’re here to serve, not just the church, but the community as well.”
Crystal Coleman, the office manager at Gasper River, said she started working part-time in its kitchen over 11 years ago.
“After about a year of helping in the kitchen, I started on the cleaning crew,” Coleman said. “Then, our registrar left, so I took that over.”
Coleman said she became the office manager during the COVID-19 pandemic. She said her hard work helped her earn those promotions, but also that she views Gasper River as her higher calling.
“Every time I get stressed or frustrated, and I start wanting to work somewhere else, something happens,” Coleman said. “I’m always convinced that God’s stirring my life around to show me that I’m where I’m supposed to be.”
Coleman said her promotion to registrar was an example of this phenomenon.
“When I came to talk to Ben about working more time to meet the need of a new car payment, he told me the registrar had quit, and he was interested in me taking over that position,” Coleman said. “It’s a beautiful thing to have your needs met before you even know what to ask.”
Coleman said Ben Warrell has always been an active and understanding boss.
“He’s never made me feel guilty, or like I can’t take time off when I need to,” Coleman said. “He jumps in to help everywhere, like with cooking, check-ins, parent complaints and cleaning.”
Ben Warrell said he plans to expand the boarding options to accommodate larger retreats and eventually upgrade the recreational facilities.
Ben Warrell said that after receiving an inheritance, Susan Warrell asked what he wanted to do with the money.
“We had always planned on getting a beach house, and our options were buying a beach house or getting a brick and mortar store,” Ben Warrell said. “I said, ‘You put your dreams on hold for me, so I can put mine on hold for you.’”
Ben Warrell said his wife’s shop, Meltdown Ice Cream & Soda Fountain, is a popular spot for families driving back from Gasper River.
“It’s funny, parents will come pick up their kids on a Friday and stop at Meltdown on the way back to Owensboro or Paducah,” Ben Warrell said.
Owner of Meltdown Ice Cream & Soda Fountain, Susan Warrell from Louisville, said that through her “ice cream adventure,” her community has been a thread through it all.
Susan Warrell said the idea for Meltdown came to her in 2012 while working as a photographer at Bowling Green’s Community Farmers Market. She said she started out selling her homemade ice cream alongside her art.
“By starting at the Farmers Market, I was able to test my business and test my community, test my market to see if people in the community really want this,” Susan Warrell said.
She said that after four-and-a-half-years of owning Meltdown through a stand and small truck, she was diagnosed with thyroid cancer and had to take a break from the business.
“It was really one of the hardest things that I’ve had to do,” Susan Warrell said. “At the same time, the smartest and the easiest thing I had to do.”
During that time, she said she remained connected to the farmers’ market as a volunteer and eventually became a manager for Community Farmers Market.
In the fall of 2020, Susan Warrell said she came back to Meltdown after realizing she was healthier than she realized.
She said since then, her business has grown from a stand to her store in the historic Quigley-Younglove Building in downtown Bowling Green.
“When I came back, it was so exciting,” Susan Warrell said. “I had a following from the market, and through the years, it was great again for the community to follow me here.”
She said her favorite part of owning an ice cream business, besides the ice cream, is the people.
“I’ve seen kids grow up through the years at Meltdown,” Warrell said. “I have had customers who’ve come here on date nights, [come] in on their wedding day, all dressed up to get ice cream because this was an important place to them.”
Susan Warrell said that she’s had support from her entire family through running Meltdown, especially her husband.
“I refer to him as ‘Mr. Meltdown,’” Susan Warrell said. “He really jumped in even though he has a full-time job and still does if I need him. I know I can call or text and say, ‘Hey, can you come help me,’ and he’ll come in and go straight back to the dish pit, start washing dishes or do whatever I need.”
She said that her family has always encouraged her to follow her passions and do what she loves.
“They believed in me, they believed in our products, and that always really gave me the support that I needed,” Susan Warrell said.
She said that in 2025, she was diagnosed with stage one breast cancer and had to take another break from the business. She said she relied on her “ice cream dream team” to run Meltdown while she received treatment, unlike the first time she was diagnosed.
“This time I have a whole team of people,” Susan Warrell said. “They really do make it easy for me to hand over the reins and see what they can do, and let me focus on myself and my health and know that my business would still be good too.”
Taylor Stamps from Bowling Green, production assistant for Meltdown since its founding, said that Susan Warrell’s leaving was an all-hands-on-deck situation, but not a stressful one.
“I don’t think there were any lapses, but that was because of the community she built within us, and the community still coming up and supporting,” Stamps said. “If anything, we were busier, because people knew what Susan was going through, and they wanted to support her business in that way.”
Susan Warrell said that she never dreamed about owning an ice cream business.
“I wasn’t meaning to start an ice cream business, but, you know, I allowed myself to see okay, let’s see where it goes,” Susan Warrell said. “I made plans, I put things in place, I did the work, but also held on loosely, and said, ‘okay, I’m along for the ride.’”