Packers seek next fan for Hall of Fame

Mike Miller  —  9/26/2008 6:37 pm

In the 10 years since the Green Bay Packers decided to honor fans by putting one in the Hall of Fame each year, nobody from the Madison area has been selected for the honor.

There was the original winner, Mel Knoke, 91, of Appleton, who died the night before he was to be inducted, and there have since been winners from various towns in Wisconsin, and even one from New Jersey in 2007, but none from this part of the state.

You would think the Madison Packer Backers would take that as a personal insult.

But now is the chance to rectify that as the Packers are accepting nominations for the 2009 award, which will be presented in December.

To nominate a relative or friend, or yourself for that matter, a fan must write an essay of 500 words or less explaining why a particular fan should be recognized. A picture of the nominee should be included, and the Packers suggest a copy of pictures would be best in case of damage or (that word Packers fans hate the most) loss.

Nominations will be taken from Sept. 21 through Oct. 16, the Packers said.

The 10 finalists for the award will be chose in November by a committee of the Packers Fan Hall of Fame, a group made up of members of the Packers front office. The 10 finalists will be announced on Nov. 10.

Packer fans will then be able to see profiles of the 10 finalists and vote online for their choice, and the winner will be announced on Dec. 12.

Along with the honor being in the Hall of Fame, the winner will receive four club seats to a Packers home game, and be recognized at Lambeau Field on the TundraVision video boards. The winner also gets a $500 gift certificate for the Packers Pro Shop, a road trip for two to a Packers away game, including game tickets, air fare and hotel accommodation, and a one year subscription to Packer Plus.

And, of course, the winner will have his or her name permanently displayed in a place of honor in the Green Bay Packers Hall of Fame.

Nominations should be sent to the Green Bay Packers Fan Hall of Fame, P.O. Box 10628, Green Bay, WI, 54307-0628, or can be dropped off a the Lambeau Field Atrium, or at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, at 333 W. State St., Milwaukee.

Previous winners have included Knoke, Louis Gardipee of Black River Falls, Ed Jablonski of Wausau, Paul Mazzoleni of Green Bay, Wanda Boggs of Brookfield, Sister Isaac Jogues Rousseau of Milwaukee, Dorothy Hanke of Milwaukee, Kathy Lazzaro of Milwaukee, Rich Barbera of River Vale, N.J., and Richard "Ike" Eisenhauer of Wauwatosa.

Mike Miller  —  9/26/2008 6:37 pm