Lodge Loonies

"Dude.....you know the Cameron Crazies from Duke? We should create some sort of super fan group like that." One of my best friends, Andy, said to me in anticipation of basketball season. We were seniors in Dillon, MT, weren't playing any winter sports, and wanted to support the team.

That discussion eventually blossomed into the "Lodge Loonies."

Beaverhead County High School's (BCHS) basketball gym is called B.W. Lodge Gymnasium. Playing off of the gym name and the Cameron Crazies concept, we created this super fan group for our high school.

It also became my first foray into entrepreneurship. Andy and I designed a logo, t-shirts, started promoting the fan group, and hustling shirt sales.

The concept took off. Andy kept track of the orders in a black book (Andy is a big dude, bouncer type, and one of the best athletes and strongest people I've ever met. So it was fitting orders went through him) and we promoted the idea, processed the orders with a local print shop, distributed orders, and made a profit.

Anyone who was anyone at BCHS had a shirt and represented.

The idea even made the local newspaper. The print shop wouldn't let people go around Andy and me to order the shirts wholesale and routed them back to us.

One of the traditions at BCHS as Seniors leave the school is to create a "Will" which is then distributed through the school in a newsletter.

Andy and I had a 50/50 arrangement and it was important to leave the company in good hands.

So we willed Lodge Loonies to my younger brother, Kyle, (who was going to be a sophomore) and another buddy who worked with us in the FYC and played football with us named, Jake (who was going to be a junior).

Kyle and Jake ran the business for another 2 years before Jake graduated and Kyle ran it on his own for his senior year before he willed it on.

After Kyle left BCHS the business faded. But with time and some of our classmates returning to Dillon as teachers, the concept has been revived and Lodge Loonies is a school fundraiser/business again.?

A fun idea that budded into some cash is now a BCHS legacy and tradition.

This wasn't intentional but was so cool and humbling to be a part of. It taught me a lot about business and, I know, was the glimpse into the future for eventually running my own company later in life, which I am so happy to be doing.

For me this was a lesson in embracing an idea, pushing it forward, and letting it grow.

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Don't stop being creative and having fun. You never know what it will lead to.

-- Alex deGolia

Al Ki (al - KAI) Consultants