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John Liberty

John was rather prolific for Encore this issue, putting his journalistic prowess to work for three stories.

His first is a profile of Schupan & Sons Inc. This story looks at how this Kalamazoo company has grown exponentially since CEO Marc Schupan took it over in 1974, at the age of 26, following the death of his father. “When Marc took over, the metal recycling company had six employees and one building. Now there are 500 employees and five divisions that do much more than just metal recycling,” says John. “I enjoyed hearing about how the company would see an opportunity and create a business around it.”

One of those businesses, Rescued Metals & Equipment, is featured in a second story by John. This company finds reusable materials at Schupan & Sons’ scrap facilities and offers them for sale to businesses, artists and do-it-yourselfers. Rescued Metals makes metal sign art as well.

Finally, John gives us a story about the Kalamazoo Wiffle League, in which adults play Wiffle ball competitively. John started playing baseball at 8, and his venture into backyard Wiffle ball wasn’t far behind. When he stumbled on the Kalamazoo Wiffle League in 2009, he knew he needed to learn more about it. He started the PF Flyers team, joined the league in 2010 and continues to compete in the league despite “being old and slow,” he says.

When not writing stories for Encore, John shares his deep knowledge of the local craft beverage scene as general manager of West Michigan Beer Tours.

For this month’s Back Story feature, Marie interviewed Megan Yankee, executive director of the Stulberg International String Competition. Not only did Marie learn about how Yankee helped convert the annual competition to an online event for the first time last year, but she found out that in her off hours Yankee likes to go exploring in a vintage camper and had restored the same model of Shasta trailer that Marie’s family had when she was a child. “It is great to find another person who loves the coziness and quaintness of these trailers,” says Marie. “I also like knowing that her kids will grow up and remember that trailer and the adventures they had in it as fondly as I remember ours.” Marie is the editor of Encore.