ABOUT THE FOUNDERS
Troy Barnes
My name is Troy Barnes, and I created Northern Michigan Fanatics Club because of one simple thing...
I love Northern Michigan.
Not just the lakes.
Not just the forests.
Not just the campgrounds.
I love the culture.
I grew up in Lincoln Park, just south of Detroit, as the oldest of seven children. We didn't have a lot of money, but we had something far more valuable.
Family adventures.
Every summer we'd load up our pop-up camper and head to Waterloo Recreation Area near Jackson. We camped at places like Portage Lake, Clear Lake, and Sugarloaf Lake. Those weekends taught me that some of life's greatest memories don't come from expensive vacations—they come from simply being together.
As we got older, our adventures expanded into Northern Michigan.
That's where everything changed.
Every October my dad would take my brothers and me to Reedsburg Dam near Houghton Lake.
My grandfather kept a small trailer in the rustic campground, and for three days we lived the kind of life that still makes me smile today.
Fishing.
Campfires.
Cooking the fish we caught.
Meeting people who quickly became friends.
Looking back now...
Those weekends helped shape the person I became.
Years later I married and started raising my own family.
My career as an executive chef took us throughout Northern Michigan.
I worked in Traverse City.
Interlochen.
Petoskey.
Curtis in Michigan's Upper Peninsula.
Although I worked long hours, living in Northern Michigan felt like being on vacation every single day.
One summer, after accepting a position in Interlochen, we didn't have a house yet.
Instead of waiting...
We bought a tent.
My wife, my children, and I spent the entire summer camping.
Looking back...
That may have been the greatest summer of my life.
Every morning started with coffee by the water.
The kids spent their days riding bicycles, exploring the woods, swimming, and making lifelong memories.
One of my children even took their very first steps at Turtle Lake Campground near Leland.
You can't buy memories like that.
Although life eventually took us in different directions, my children stayed in Northern Michigan.
Today they're raising families of their own in the place they grew up loving.
As for me...
I'm now a truck driver, but every mile I drive brings me one mile closer to retirement.
And when that day comes...
I'm coming home to Northern Michigan.
Northern Michigan Fanatics Club was never created to sell T-shirts.
It was created to celebrate a lifestyle.
A culture.
A place where families reconnect.
Where campfires last a little longer.
Where fishing trips become family traditions.
Where mornings begin with coffee overlooking the water.
Where strangers wave as they pass.
Where life slows down just enough to remind us what truly matters.
Our goal is to build more than a clothing brand.
We're building a community.
Through our future VIP Club we'll host giveaways, lakefront getaway weekends, and an annual Northern Michigan vacation giveaway.
We'll continue expanding our apparel with hats, hoodies, jackets, coffee mugs, and much more.
Most importantly...
We'll continue celebrating the culture that makes Northern Michigan one of the most special places on Earth.
If Northern Michigan holds a special place in your heart...
Then you've found your people.
Welcome to Northern Michigan Fanatics Club.
More Than an Apparel Store.
Living the Culture.
Phillip Bozzo
Welcome to Northern Michigan Fanatics Club.
I’m Phillip Bozzo, co-founder with Troy Barnes.
I love Michigan.
Not just the lakes.
Not just the music.
Not just the landscape.
It’s home. It always will be.
I grew up downstate.
I didn’t know what a Yooper was. Or a pasty.
I’d never heard of Paul Bunyan and Babe.
I hadn’t seen Mackinac Island, or tasted the fudge everyone talks about.
Not until I was 16.
That fall, I took my first trip up north.
Pictured Rocks. Tahquamenon Falls. The Soo Locks.
We crossed the Mackinac Bridge. Stood by Paul Bunyan and Babe at Castle Rock.
Ate pasties. Ate fudge.
Something about that trip stuck with me.
But my family didn’t vacation up north growing up.
No boating. No camping at Houghton, or Higgins, or Torch Lake.
No climbing the dunes. No ferry to Mackinac Island.
That didn’t come until I was 20.
That’s when my friend Terry brought me along.
His friend Matt had a lake house up at Lake George.
We’d go every summer. Help with the cabins. Stay for the season.
We became family.
I learned to sleep in a cabin.
Learned to ride a pontoon.
Learned to water ski — and wipe out, more than once.
I remember the night sky. The woodsmoke. The campfires.
Mostly, I remember the people.
The years after that, I kept going back.
Traverse City. The wineries. The Cherry Festival.
Sleeping Bear Dunes. Mackinac Island. Every lighthouse along the way.
There’s nowhere like Michigan.
Things change. People don’t stop coming back.
Northern Michigan Fanatics Club was built from one thing.
A love of Michigan that Troy and I share.
This isn’t just a place to buy a shirt.
It’s a place to share your story. Your memories. Your pictures. Your recipes.
This is your club. Your community.
You have a voice in what it becomes.
Welcome to Northern Michigan Fanatics Club.
Let’s have some fun.
Blessings to all.
Phillip