The Famous Proposal at Rock Bottom Brewery
Retold by Orland Fire Protection Firefighter, Brian Thompson
As we prepare for the Annual Rock Bottom Fire Chief Ale promotion, the 100 Club of Chicago caught up with Firefighter Brian Thompson, who shared the story of his Rock Bottom romance and proposal.
A proud supporter of the 100 Club of Chicago, after experiencing a line of duty loss at his own department, Firefighter Thompson jumped at the chance to get involved with the Fire Chief’s Ale events at Rock Bottom that benefit the 100 Club. The 100 Club has been partnering with Rock Bottom for the past 11 years. Brian has been in attendance almost every year and always volunteers his time to sell raffle tickets and work the room.
Almost eight years ago, he targeted a full table he seemed to have missed and made a beeline for the group. Brian gave his spiel, made a few sells and to his surprise one of the men in the group asked if he was single. Brian hesitantly, said “depends who’s asking”.
He continued his rounds until the end of the night when off the clock and intrigued he headed back to the nosey table wondering who exactly was interested in his relationship status. He offered to buy the table a round of drinks and immediately spotted Kelly. Brian spends most of the evening talking with her, the two clearly hitting it off. Kelly heads out early and Brian not wanting to miss the opportunity, walks her out and cleans the snow off of her car. Brian made sure to give Kelly his number feeling confident she would give him a call. Just a few days later Kelly and Brian have their very first date and then continued dating, many times meeting at Rock Bottom and never missing the Chief Ale promotion every year.
After four years together Brian knew Kelly was the one for him and it was time to ask her to marry him. Brian thought the annual event at Rock Bottom would be the perfect setting.
Just like the very night they met, Brian was selling raffle tickets. At the end of the evening the manager, one of the few who were in on the surprise, called Brian up to the front and asked him to call out the winning numbers of the pot, as he would normally do. Brian grabbed the mic, and to the crowd’s surprise, begins to tell the story of him and Kelly. Reminiscing on the first time they met with complete strangers and a few close friends. He says the words, “Will you marry me?” Kelly without hesitation says, “Yes”, and the crowd went wild.
The couple were married in sunny Palm Beach, Florida shortly after. Brian and Kelly go to Rock Bottom once a month, forever a special spot of theirs. The happy couple both volunteer their time at the Fire Chief’s Ale promotion and support the 100 Club. We look forward to seeing them and all of you during the Fire Chief’s Ale promotion this year running from February 22nd to March 21st!