BACK STORY ENCORE
Brian Colopy
Kalamazoo Growlers & Battle Creek Battle Jacks and Outlier Events B
Brian Powers
rian Colopy is the first one to tell you that he loves baseball but that it isn't that much fun to watch. Which is why, since the 39-year-old began working in the Northwoods League, the summer collegiate league that both the Kalamazoo Growlers and the Battle Creek Battle Jacks (formerly the BC Bombers) baseball teams belong to, he has set out to change that. He started by introducing the Twinkie Hot Dog at Battle Creek games and then the Bear Claw Burger — a 4,000-calorie cheeseburger with mac ’n’ cheese and pulled pork crammed between two doughnuts — at Growlers games, which generated a lot of buzz from both local and national media. Then it was the Selfie Jersey and a drum line in the stands, then the Growlettes granny cheerleading team, the Dad Bods dancing team and the Homerun Derbies, followed by five-inning games. And audiences responded.
38 | ENCORE JUNE 2022
"It's everything but baseball. I think we coined ourselves the 'unbaseball team,'" says Colopy. "Everything we do is based around fun. That's how our mission and motto — 'Where fun makes a difference' — was born.” He is so good at fun that he created a company, Outlier Events, to run food-oriented festivals such as the Donut and Beer Fest, the Mac and Cheese Fest, and the Tacos and Tequila Fest, which all debuted in Kalamazoo but are now held in other locations, including Grand Rapids, Lansing, Ohio and Wisconsin. (continued on page 37)
