Fans embrace chance to shovel snow at Lambeau Field before Packers-Seahawks playoff game
GREEN BAY — Green Bay Packers fan Brian Fenske didn't get much sleep before Sunday's big playoff matchup versus the Seattle Seahawks.
It's not necessarily that Fenske was nervous about how the Packers would play, but that he was in line outside Lambeau Field since 2 a.m. Sunday, in temperatures in the teens, waiting to shovel snow.
Fenske has answered the Packers call for help shoveling out the stadium for 10 years now. Even with tickets to Sunday's game, he said he wasn't going to miss the call for 350 people to take a shovel and help clear out the stadium for $12 an hour.
The money is nice, but this kind of opportunity to help your team out doesn't happen anywhere else, Fenske said.
"It's our love of the Packers," Fenske said. "It's all for history. I feel like I'm part of history doing this. We're making it fun for everyone."
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Fenske was a part of history regardless of how Sunday's game turns out. The Packers had never had to put out the call for people to shovel out the stadium on the morning of a game. The team originally put out a call for 700 people when forecasts called for almost a foot of snow, but revised its request down to 350 when it became clear the expected snowstorm would largely pass south and east of Green Bay.
Their fans didn't let them down. A line of people started with Fenske and a group of others at the Fleet Farm gate and stretched north around the stadium, past the Associated Bank gate almost all the way to the Kwik Trip gate Sunday morning. People looking to help out were still arriving at 6 a.m.
Logan Buettner of Shawano and his dad, Gary, got in line a little more than 13 hours before the scheduled kickoff for Sunday's game. Buettner said he's glad to get the chance to see the stadium since he won't be going to Sunday's game.
"It was a last-minute deal with the playoffs, but we're giving the Pack some support," Logan Buettner said. "For us, it's more or less the experience of being in the stadium. It's been years since we've been to a game, so it was a nice chance to get inside."
Contact Jeff Bollier at (920) 431-8387 or jbollier@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @GBstreetwise. Contact Benita Mathew at (920) 309-3428 or bmathew@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter at @benita_mathew.
