The Pest Pros Help Keep Kalamazoo Growlers Fans Comfortable

This time on PEST PROSpectives, Pest Pros ACE Tony Sorentino is joined by Jaylynn Struth from the Kalamazoo Growlers to talk about how fans at a riverfront ballpark like Mayor's Riverfront Park stay comfortable during peak mosquito season. 

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Episode Resources
Pest Pros of Michigan
Kalamazoo Growlers

PEST PROSpectives is a Livemic Communications production.

Transcript

Welcome To Pest Prospectives

Richard Piet 0:08

I'm Richard Pyot. Welcome back to Pest Prospectives. It's the official podcast from the Pest Pros of Michigan. Subscribe, won't you? The episodes are where your podcasts are your favorite. Podcast directories list them, so just look for us. Pest Prospectives. A little bit of a play on the spelling there. So find it and be along with us. We've had a number of episodes now talking about some of the things that folks are often wondering about when it comes to pests, whatever they might be. Today we get to talk about something a little bit different. If you go to the PestPros website, there's a terrific community page there where Tony and the folks have illustrated, pointed out, shed light on some of their favorite community organizations around the region. One of them is the Kalamazoo Growlers. So Tony's here today, of course, Tony Sorentino, associate certified entomologist. We call them aces. And also with us today is Jalen Struth, who is among the team at the Kalamazoo Growlers focused on partnerships. Welcome to you both.

SPEAKER_00 1:20

Thank you.

Richard Piet 1:20

Thanks, Richard. So let's talk about this now. Uh Tony, you have a mission when it comes to working with the Kalamazoo Growlers. What is it?

Mosquito Pressure Near Wetlands

SPEAKER_02 1:31

It's to create a safe space for our community to be able to show up and show out and show support for our local teams. And there's a there's a tremendous opportunity for that was how we originally started our partnership, is they had um issues with mosquitoes because they're right by wetlands in Kalamazoo where the the uh Homer Striker Field is. It's surrounded by wetlands and and it turns into a veritable breeding ground for mosquitoes. And that was how we originally started partnering with the Growlers.

Richard Piet 2:09

Yeah, you know, that's interesting because the uh mosquitoes episode that we did a while back, Amber talked about the idea that you know somebody's pond three doors down could have an effect on the mosquito quotient in your own yard. The point was a body of water doesn't have to be very large to make this happen. But Jalen, hello, the river's right there next to Homer Stryker Field.

SPEAKER_00 2:40

Yeah, it's like I can look out my window and see it. And so, yeah, we've got the Kalamazoo River and then all surrounding us, we have a lot of trees and wooded areas too. And so that, you know, mixture there is uh I'm sure Tony knows more on the mosquito side, but you know, growing up in Michigan, I know all about mosquitoes in the area.

Richard Piet 2:58

So Yeah, that's right. And so it was a concern, wasn't it? Uh you want to be able to have uh a crowd for every game, and they don't have to battle the pests. This was the point, wasn't it?

SPEAKER_00 3:13

Yeah, absolutely. I mean, our season is from Memorial Day until mid-August. And so, you know, we're a baseball stadium, we're outdoors, we've got all of our concessions outside, our seating is outside. So you don't want fans to come to the ballpark and not be able to sit and have an experience that they're enjoying. And so, you know, that's one thing that we can't control the heat, we can't control the climate, but you know, we can partner with someone and really make this a space that's a lot more comfortable for fans.

Treating A Large Outdoor Venue

Richard Piet 3:38

All right, Tony. So this is not somebody's backyard, right? This is a large space. How does this change when you're looking at the solution?

SPEAKER_02 3:49

So when we're when we're assessing any property, whether it's uh half an acre of someone's yard or you know, the the area that we treat around Homer Stryker Field, um, it it's the it's the brushy areas, it's the the the shaded wooded areas, the heavily overgrown areas that we pay attention to. And that's where we're gonna intercept those vectors as they're uh mosquitoes are incredibly weak flyers. They um I don't know how else to say it, like this is a leaf, they land up underneath. And uh an effective program involves uh product application to those areas, and we get to go out, we get to be at the ballpark when nobody else is at the ballpark. That's that's always an exciting experience. Um, we get to see it when there's no hustle, there's no bustle. It's just out there providing a service. And I know for sure that the next three weeks are gonna be better for all of the people that come. Treatments are usually set about a month apart for efficacy. And um by the by the end of that fourth week, we really see where the the the pressure is starting to come back. It's a real dream. Most kids played baseball when they were when they were younger, and to go out and and be able to be a partner with our our our local team and be part of the community. That's that's a dream to to me personally.

Richard Piet 5:23

Yeah. Did you go stand on the mound and do a wind up just to you know test things out?

SPEAKER_02 5:28

We don't we don't go in there. Um there's not a tremendous amount of mosquito activity in the mound in that area, but all of the wooded areas, that's why we we focus our attention there, because that's where they're coming from. They're coming over for the the prey.

Richard Piet 5:44

Yes. So so yeah, Jalen, you want to make sure then, because you have crowds that come and they could be there in the evening or they could be there a little earlier than that, couldn't they? So you want something that's effective all the time.

SPEAKER_00 6:00

Yeah, absolutely. Um, like you said, I mean, we have education day games where we're having 3,000 kids at our ballpark for three to four games a year at 10 a.m., 11 a.m. games. And so those are, you know, kids. You don't want to have them come out and go back home with a bunch of mosquito bites all over them, and then we're playing games into 6 p.m. games, goes into, you know, 10 o'clock at night. We're leaving, and our staff is then the ones cleaning up afterwards. So, you know, keeping in mind the fans, any um people who are also working here, we don't want our staff to be out cleaning the ballpark at 11 p.m. after a festival, after an event, after a game. So yeah, it's a lot of people that we want to keep in mind and keep safe.

Richard Piet 6:39

Yeah, so this is uh I won't say a tall order, right, Tony? I mean, you know what you're doing, but this is uh a lot of things to consider here. You want it to be effective, as you said, over the course of those uh few weeks before you come back again. This really is amazing to me because you can go there and effect a treatment and they're not around for a whole month.

What Draws Mosquitoes To Crowds

SPEAKER_02 7:03

It's targeted the products that we use are polymicroencapsulated so that they last in the in the environment after they've been applied. The chemicals make us look like superheroes in a lot of cases. Um, but it's really understanding the biology and the behavior of the pests that we're trying to control just to really make it make it count, I guess is the best way to put it.

Richard Piet 7:26

Yeah, you mentioned Jalen that of course there's concessions and food and does this attract mosquitoes, Tony, or they just want to land on some skin and get some blood.

SPEAKER_02 7:38

It's the it's the CO2 that we breathe out, they're drawn in by that. There's um humans have a distinct smell and and and they're drawn to that, they're drawn to the body heat, and there's so many of us together. A lot of mosquitoes are drawn to the different types of high pressure sodium lamps that they use. So they're drawn in by the light. There's something going on over there, they go to that. And so it's it's really it's just uh it's like a perfect storm of things that happen that that puts us all right in the crosshairs, crosshairs.

Richard Piet 8:12

Yeah, it's everything they like. Yeah, everything they like. Uh all of us together, the warmth, and uh here they come. So, Jalen, uh, you want to make sure, right, that this is effective because you're selling an experience. Is that fair to say?

SPEAKER_00 8:30

Yeah, absolutely. I mean, we are a baseball team, right? We're a summer collegiate baseball team, so that's our main goal. But outside of that, our mission is like we consider us the community team. So we really stand by our motto is where fun makes a difference. So, yeah, like Tony said, you know, he's growing up like, oh gosh, I love baseball. But, you know, there's people nowadays that don't love baseball. So we try to provide an experience outside of that. So at all of our games, we have a fire breather. We use our mascot Porter, our players are dancing on the field. And so we really try to just make ourselves, yes, we're a baseball team, but like let's attract every single person in the Kalmazou area where they're gonna come, whether they care about a strikeout, a home run. We want to make sure their experience is a positive one that they're gonna remember.

Richard Piet 9:14

Yeah, and it that is true. I've witnessed these many times. It is a a fun experience uh because there is baseball going on, of course. So if you're into that, it's great. But even if you're not, don't let that stop you because uh there is a whole experience that's a part of that. And and so you want to uh try and get a chance to find that out. And you can bring groups, right? I mean, there is a whole aspect of this that is uh related to business groups or nonprofits. Talk about that a little bit.

SPEAKER_00 9:51

Yeah, absolutely. I mean, you know, our experience isn't just for the everyday fan. Obviously, we have our Meyer Zoo crew who are for families. We call them like our family five pack games, but we have many different areas in the ballpark just for corporate clients or, like you said, nonprofit groups, churches, um, anything of the sort. So we'd like to provide an experience where you can bring out your staff, your clients, um, your team, and have an experience that it's outside of the workplace, right? So we do all-inclusive tickets, so food and drinks included with it. Um, so we try to make it as easy as possible for people like Tony to be able to bring out his crew and have a fun experience and celebrate everything that they do for the company outside of work as well.

SPEAKER_02 10:33

That's that's one of the things that we do at least once. Most years, it's twice per year. We'll bring out a big group of people from Pest Pros, our staff, our friends, our family, and we'll come out and we get to have that experience where we're all together, we're all there, we're we get to eat together, we get to drink together, we get to hang out together, and we get to enjoy that in our community at our local baseball park. It's it's one of the highlights of my summer every year.

Group Nights Sponsors And Season Dates

Richard Piet 11:00

And nobody wants to have to, you know, get a mesquite on their hand or somewhere. Uh so you've taken care of that too. This is important. So, folks, Jalen, if we've uh somehow uh piqued their interest about bringing a group or even maybe becoming a sponsor of sorts, what do they do?

SPEAKER_00 11:21

So you can go to our uh website, growlersbaseball.com, as well as you can call our front office. You know, we've got a full-time staff here all year round. Sometimes people joke and don't think that we work all year round because we're such a short season, but I promise we are here or ready to answer the phones. So yeah, you can connect with me. I'm on LinkedIn and all other kind of social media platforms as well.

Richard Piet 11:40

All right. And uh as you say, you're working all year long. But when is the season, by the way? Uh it starts in the spring, doesn't it? And it's over pretty quick.

SPEAKER_00 11:51

Yeah. So our season actually kicks off for the first time in a couple of years. We're hosting on Memorial Day this year. So um May 25th at 105. We've got a fun day game. So I'll people hopefully get the opportunity to take off work. They can come spend it at the ballpark. So we'll host 36 different home games here at Homer Striker Field, as well as some fun other announcements we'll have coming in the upcoming months about festivals and events as well.

Richard Piet 12:14

Oh, all right. And that's at Homer Striker Field near downtown Kalamazoo. And maybe we've peaked interest too for someone, Tony, who has a large space where mosquitoes have been an issue. Maybe water is nearby. They shouldn't be deterred. They should ask you about it. This is not a unique situation, right, that we see at the Growlers, except maybe it's because they're next to a river, but uh, you are well versed in this.

SPEAKER_02 12:41

Absolutely. Nobody does it better than pest pros when it comes to vector control. And we're talking mosquitoes, fleas, ticks, any of the ectoparasites that we deal with when it comes to protecting your outdoor spaces. Nobody does it better than us. I'll stand on that.

Vector Control Takeaways And Closing

Richard Piet 12:57

Okay. And if you have a large space and you might be a little like me saying, How do you control this for a period of time over a large space like this? Uh, don't let that stop you from calling and asking the question of the past. Absolutely not. Everything is controllable. Yeah. And if you would, before we go, Tony, talk a little bit about why the growlers landed on your community page. What was it about them, maybe in addition to what you've already said, but what was it about them that you said we want them there?

SPEAKER_02 13:30

I have a tremendous amount of respect, like fierce respect and admiration for our Kalamazoo Growlers as a team. Their level of community involvement, what they do to give back to the community, it's inspirational to me. And it if it's one of the reasons why I wanted to partner with the Growlers in the first place.

Richard Piet 13:48

All right. Well, uh, what a great opportunity to talk about all of that. Maybe we've inspired some folks to think about their own backyard pests or a business area pests. In the meantime, maybe somebody's going to bring a group, Jalen. We hope they do. So thank you for joining us.

SPEAKER_00 14:05

Absolutely. Thanks so much for having me on. This is a pleasure.

Richard Piet 14:08

Thank you, Richard. Jalen Struth with the Kalamazoo Growlers and Tony Sorentino. Thank you. Right here on the Pest Prospectives podcast. Subscribe where you get them and listen to some of our other episodes. Take care.