Packers shareholders meeting: Game day-like celebration

GREEN BAY - It might not have been game day, but the crowd that flocked to Lambeau Field Monday for the Packers shareholders meeting sure made it feel that way.  

Organizers estimate 7,000 Packers shareholders and their guests came from near and far to attend the team's annual shareholders meeting. 

Some showed up just in time to enter the stadium, while others arrived several hours in advance to take advantage of prime pre-meeting tailgating. 

John Hall traveled from Fond du Lac Monday with friends, setting up shop around three hours early in the stadium's parking lot. His area was complete with brats, a grill, chairs, coolers — the works.

Hall, a shareholder since the early 1990s, said the meeting marks the unofficial start of the season and that, in itself, is worth celebrating. 

Although shareholders don't get the perks they used to, like tours of the locker rooms and free food, he said it's still worth the investment to support the Packers. 

"I own part of the team," he said, laughing. "I can't hire or fire anybody, but we have a piece of paper that says we own and are part of the team." 

Attending the meeting has become a tradition for Tom and Kim Rozum of Batavia, Ill. 

"It gets you in the mood for the season," Tom Rozum said. "It's serious. You've got to get your beer ready and brats before you go into the meeting."

The couple, both lifelong Packers fans, became shareholders in 2011 and have custom jerseys to prove it. The jerseys sport the number 11 on the front and NFL owner on the back. Just a few years after investing in their favorite team, the Rozums bought a weekend home near the stadium. Each room is decorated with a different Packers player theme. 

Before the meeting, Tom Rozum said he looked forward to hearing about the new improvements to the district.

"We went to Lodge Kohler on Saturday and had a couple beers on their Tavern in the Sky," he said. "And we looked at Hinterland and all the development that's going on, so we're pretty excited to see how all that's going along." 

Claire Jarosz of Menasha made a girls' day out of the meeting. Her group of friends packed a breakfast-style tailgate of bloody marys and breakfast burritos.

She said she became a shareholder because her dad was one and it's something she always wanted to be a part of — and she wanted to have an ownership certificate to frame. The meeting, she said, while more laid back than games, is a nice kickoff to the Packers' football season. 

"Even in the 80s, when they were really bad, my dad would watch every game," she said. She and her friends agreed that, growing up in Wisconsin, the Packers are a part of their identity. 

They said they were most interested in learning more about the record revenue the team recently reported. 

Vonnie Verkuilen of Maribel has been a Packers fan for 70 years. She's not a shareholder — a friend gave her a ticket — but she's been invested in the team for as long as she can remember. 

"My father and mother used to carry me as a baby to the old east-side City Stadium," she said. "So I've been going to Packers games, that I actually remember, since I was 5." 

She said she wanted to come to the meeting to hear about new players and Mark Murphy and company's thoughts on the team's Super Bowl chances. 

"I am looking to go to another Super Bowl. It's time," she said. "I went to one (in New Orleans) and I'm not getting any younger so it would be fun to go to one more."