Brian Sutherland: Acting Out as a Volunteer

Born and raised in Clawson, Brian Sutherland, 30, said he enjoys being able to still call the community home. Sutherland tries to reach out to the community whenever possible to show his pride in his hometown.

When it comes to volunteering, Sutherland is known for using his charisma to help others by wearing costumes to match the themes of events and embracing the roles he is called to play.

He originally joined in on these projects when he became a member of the four years ago as part of the events committee. Among the costumes he has stepped into are Santa Claus, Indiana Jones and a Ghostbuster.

“He’s a real sport about that, and we really appreciate it,” said Joan Horton, director of the DDA. “He’s fun to be around, he has fun, and he just makes us all smile.”

Sutherland was once a media teacher at and , and his wife, Amy, is currently a teacher at Schalm. As a teacher, he learned the names of many students — so when children see him dressed in a big, red suit at Christmas, their eyes light up when he calls them by name.

The downside is that the suit gets pretty hot, he said.

Sutherland has also played movie character roles in the annual Movie Night at City Park during the summer. This year, he said the DDA has considered showing the movie Back to the Future. Sutherland said he would likely dress up as Michael J. Fox’s character, Marty McFly, or Christopher Lloyd’s character, Dr. Emmett Brown.

As a member of the DDA, Sutherland also is one of the many volunteers in charge of stuffing scarecrows, planning events and helping with the Clawson Pub Crawl and for Halloween.

“All the props that get hung on the light poles, I usually will end up doing it,” Sutherland said. “The whole events committee puts it together, but I’m the one who usually puts them up," he said. "And I secretly like doing it.”

Horton said Sutherland goes above and beyond with his roles. “He’s right there, whether we need him to set up a table, pitch a tent, hang things on the light poles – he’s there with enthusiasm,” Horton said.

Because he now works as a project manager for Daimler Trucks North America LLC, he also likes to volunteer at his wife’s class on Career Day and bring a monster tractor-trailer as a visual tool for the class — which he said typically excites the students. 

“It’s easier to explain my job with an actual semi,” Sutherland said. “They love it.”