Northwoods League (baseball) - Brainerd Blue Thunder

Brainerd Blue Thunder Unveil Name, Logo

A crowd of approximately 60 Brainerd Sports Boosters members and "Name the Team" contest participants gathered on Thursday to watch the unveiling of the Brainerd Northwoods League franchise name and logo.

After many weeks of deliberation, the Brainerd Blue Thunder was finally chosen as the new team name. The logo is a blue ox which represents the tall tale of Paul Bunyan and Babe. "It was very exciting to watch the contestants expressions as the logo was revealed" said team owner Pam Marr.

Robert Belisle of Brainerd submitted the winning contest name and received a prize of Lifetime Season Tickets for his entry "The Brainerd Thunderbolts." He added, "It's a good name to charge up a team. Although we did not use Thunderbolts, we expanded upon that name to come up with Blue Thunder."

There were many other entries which also promoted the lakes but the franchise wanted to go in a different direction. "We wanted to have a logo and name that is completely unique to our area, one which the community will embrace. We think Paul Bunyan and Babe are just perfect," said team owner Skip Marr.

Prizes were also awarded for the first entry received, last entry received, and mascot entry. Eleven year old Jenna Ruzich from Brainerd submitted her entry on Halloween night when she got home from trick-or-treating. Her submission was the last valid entry received in the contest, so she won a bonus book for the 2005 season. "I kept telling her all week to submit her entry before the contest was over. I can't believe she was rewarded for almost being late," said Jenna's mother Joy.

Jim "Kep" Keplinger of Brainerd designed the logo and was present at the unveiling. "We had a great time working with Kep. His energy and enthusiasm during this project was extremely contagious. We couldn't wait to see the final copy and when we did, we were very pleased," added Skip Marr.

For more information about the Brainerd Blue Thunder, please call 218-828-2825.

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