I remember this place.

[weeds]

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[weeds]

Things look a little different these days.

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[AmishMafia]

Crazy!

 

[Poppa San]

Things look a little different these days.

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See the two houses two blocks to the right of the arena? Would be west of Oneida street now. The one on the right in this picture was my mom's brother's house. He and his wife built it in the mid 50's. Church next door bought it in the 70's tore it down and now their playground sits where the kitchen was.

 

[weeds]

...and now there's this. For what it's worth, I think the Red Lobster is still there for all of you Reggie White fans ... but the strip mall where Sara's store was is gone.

https://www.google.com/maps/uv?pb=!1s0x8802fa4ed492dab5%3A0xe064f1ce9097e45c!3m1!7e164!15sCgIgAQ&hl=en&viewerState=ga&cr=ll_a7

 

[milani]

See the two houses two blocks to the right of the arena? Would be west of Oneida street now. The one on the right in this picture was my mom's brother's house. He and his wife built it in the mid 50's. Church next door bought it in the 70's tore it down and now their playground sits where the kitchen was.

Wonderful story! All the more why you are respected now.

 

[Poppa San]

...and now there's this. For what it's worth, I think the Red Lobster is still there for all of you Reggie White fans ... but the strip mall where Sara's store was is gone.

https://www.google.com/maps/uv?pb=!1s0x8802fa4ed492dab5%3A0xe064f1ce9097e45c!3m1!7e164!15sCgIgAQ&hl=en&viewerState=ga&cr=ll_a7

Red Lobster is still there right next to Chunkie cheese.

 

[milani]

Red Lobster is still there right next to Chunkie cheese.

I go there after a game. Fun after a victory.

 

[Thirteen Below]

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What year was this? I might be in that photograph.

 

[weeds]

What year was this? I might be in that photograph.

I'm guessing here ... early to mid 90's?. The Hutson center was built In '94. That little administrative building in the north front ... I believe they removed the green corrugated sheet metal in the mid to late 80s? Poppa? Can you help on this one?

 

[OldSchool101]

Morning @weeds. Great photo! I looked it up, the training center was dedicated in 1994. It’s funny as we age we can almost look at a photograph and tell by its quality, coloring etc. the approximate age. I would’ve guessed 1990 ish give or take, but obviously I was wrong. My guess is closer to later 90’s early 00’s in that ‘97-02 area. IMO Regis and Kathy was in full swing. I’d still like to phone a friend as it is $128K on the line. I’ll choose help from a Lambeau lifer @Poppa San

 

[Poppa San]

I'm guessing here ... early to mid 90's?. The Hutson center was built In '94. That little administrative building in the north front ... I believe they removed the green corrugated sheet metal in the mid to late 80s? Poppa? Can you help on this one?

From Grok AI after prodding it and correcting incorrect assessments with more data:
"Date Range Confirmation
The orientation and corrected identification of structures align with our previous findings:

• Don Hutson Center (1994): Present, so the photo is from 1994 or later.
• Ray Nitschke Field (1997): Not present, with buildings or undeveloped land still on the site east of the Don Hutson Center (toward the top of the image), so the photo is from before 1997.
• Resch Center (2002): Not present, so the photo is from before 2002.
• Lambeau Field Renovations (2001–2003): The stadium lacks the Atrium and other modern features, so the photo is from before 2001.

This keeps our date range at 1994 to 1996:

• The Don Hutson Center sets the lower bound at 1994.
• The absence of Ray Nitschke Field sets the upper bound at 1996 (before its construction in 1997)."

If so this is early in the season as the trees show only green. I'd bet my daughter's dowry on home opener '95 showing off the new luxury boxes installed for that season or my wife's pin money on the following year's home opener.

 

[Shaggy]

It still amazes me how places over time can change. Buildings torn down, roads redone. I love looking at old pics and seeing what's different now from when it was taken. Glad you guys have these memories! Awesome post @weeds

 

[Poppa San]

I'm surprised none of the younglings here asked me what pin money was. Unless they were fortunate enough to discover some during their sinful youth.

 

[Voyageur]

I love those old pictures of the stadium. It reminds me of when they opened it for the first game. It was September 1957. Miss America was there. So was Richard Nixon who dedicated the stadium at halftime. A sellout crowd, over 32,000. We actually beat the Bears; I think it was 21-17 or 21-14. Can't remember exactly. I'm trying to remember the weather. I think it was cold and rainy. Miss America was wearing a fur coat if I recall. I think she had a tarp over her on the sidelines. I was 16 at the time, I wanted her out there in a bathing suit darn it! That first season we had some cold games out there. The crowds weren't too dense either, until Lombardi turned things around. Gawd! As a Packer fan in those days, we really had to love our team to maintain our season tickets and actually attend games. There were times we could have all huddled together in a half a dozen phone booths and had elbow room!

I wouldn't trade any of it for the world. That first year, sitting inside New City Stadium was a treat after sitting on the wooden bleachers often covered in ice seasons before. I think I knew I was a real Packer fan when I was about 8 years old, and when my Dad wouldn't take me to a game where it was so cold that he decided we'd stay at home instead. It was about zero outside, we lived 6 hours away from Green Bay, and it was snowing like a banshee outside, with roads being closed across Highway 29. My Dad knew, because starting on Saturday evening, he was calling the State Highway Patrol every couple of hours to see how the road conditions were. He was upset with himself because we didn't leave on Saturday morning, or even Friday evening and stay in a motel. He was obsessed, just like me. Then I found out the game was going to be on TV. The old Dumont network I believe. I don't remember the announcer. I think there was just one. Not sure. That was on Sunday morning, just before going to Church. Mass was at 11:00 AM, and I kept insisting my dad should make sure he had his wristwatch and pocket watch to make sure we weren't going to be late getting home to watch the game. I think it started at 2 PM in those days.

It was okay. I drank hot chocolate and enjoyed it. But, when it was over, I told my dad that we had to leave earlier for games because I didn't like not being there. It was rough on him at that time. Over six hours driving to Green Bay. We'd leave at around 4:00 AM. We'd always stop at the Abbey Cafe in Abbotsford, WI for breakfast, then finish the trip. After the game, we'd be off, on that long drive. We'd get home about 10 or 11 PM. My mom always had a dinner ready for us, just heat it up a bit in the oven which she had already heated. I'd go to bed with a full stomach, and tales to tell the following morning at school about how I wanted to be just like the players I saw out there.

Something surprising happened back in the early 80s, in New Braunfels, TX. My wife was offered a job by a company called Packers Welding handling the front office, including personnel. Their colors were green and gold. She ended up taking the job, and came home and laughed and said, "Guess who I met today?" I said I did have a clue. That's when she told me she was working for Ed Smith, owner of the company, who played with the Packers in 1948 and early 1949 before ending up elsewhere. I'd seen the guy play in GB. He suffered an injury in training camp his rookie year, and he was never the same as he was before it. I sat around with him a lot of evenings after that talking football. His most memorable time in life, beyond his wife and family, was the opportunity of playing in Green Bay. He told me that if he wasn't a born and bred Texan, he would have settled in Green Bay permanently.

Ed died some years back. Great guy. I wish it would have worked out better for him in Green Bay. From what I've been told by others, he could have been one darned good player if not for the injury.

Sorry! Long post.

 

[milani]

I love those old pictures of the stadium. It reminds me of when they opened it for the first game. It was September 1957. Miss America was there. So was Richard Nixon who dedicated the stadium at halftime. A sellout crowd, over 32,000. We actually beat the Bears; I think it was 21-17 or 21-14. Can't remember exactly. I'm trying to remember the weather. I think it was cold and rainy. Miss America was wearing a fur coat if I recall. I think she had a tarp over her on the sidelines. I was 16 at the time, I wanted her out there in a bathing suit darn it! That first season we had some cold games out there. The crowds weren't too dense either, until Lombardi turned things around. Gawd! As a Packer fan in those days, we really had to love our team to maintain our season tickets and actually attend games. There were times we could have all huddled together in a half a dozen phone booths and had elbow room!

I wouldn't trade any of it for the world. That first year, sitting inside New City Stadium was a treat after sitting on the wooden bleachers often covered in ice seasons before. I think I knew I was a real Packer fan when I was about 8 years old, and when my Dad wouldn't take me to a game where it was so cold that he decided we'd stay at home instead. It was about zero outside, we lived 6 hours away from Green Bay, and it was snowing like a banshee outside, with roads being closed across Highway 29. My Dad knew, because starting on Saturday evening, he was calling the State Highway Patrol every couple of hours to see how the road conditions were. He was upset with himself because we didn't leave on Saturday morning, or even Friday evening and stay in a motel. He was obsessed, just like me. Then I found out the game was going to be on TV. The old Dumont network I believe. I don't remember the announcer. I think there was just one. Not sure. That was on Sunday morning, just before going to Church. Mass was at 11:00 AM, and I kept insisting my dad should make sure he had his wristwatch and pocket watch to make sure we weren't going to be late getting home to watch the game. I think it started at 2 PM in those days.

It was okay. I drank hot chocolate and enjoyed it. But, when it was over, I told my dad that we had to leave earlier for games because I didn't like not being there. It was rough on him at that time. Over six hours driving to Green Bay. We'd leave at around 4:00 AM. We'd always stop at the Abbey Cafe in Abbotsford, WI for breakfast, then finish the trip. After the game, we'd be off, on that long drive. We'd get home about 10 or 11 PM. My mom always had a dinner ready for us, just heat it up a bit in the oven which she had already heated. I'd go to bed with a full stomach, and tales to tell the following morning at school about how I wanted to be just like the players I saw out there.

Something surprising happened back in the early 80s, in New Braunfels, TX. My wife was offered a job by a company called Packers Welding handling the front office, including personnel. Their colors were green and gold. She ended up taking the job, and came home and laughed and said, "Guess who I met today?" I said I did have a clue. That's when she told me she was working for Ed Smith, owner of the company, who played with the Packers in 1948 and early 1949 before ending up elsewhere. I'd seen the guy play in GB. He suffered an injury in training camp his rookie year, and he was never the same as he was before it. I sat around with him a lot of evenings after that talking football. His most memorable time in life, beyond his wife and family, was the opportunity of playing in Green Bay. He told me that if he wasn't a born and bred Texan, he would have settled in Green Bay permanently.

Ed died some years back. Great guy. I wish it would have worked out better for him in Green Bay. From what I've been told by others, he could have been one darned good player if not for the injury.

Sorry! Long post.

Great story. You had terrific parents. Speaking of New Braunfels, I went to a tennis camp there when I was young sponsored by pro player, John Newcombe. Quite a contrast there in weather compared to the Midwest in the month of February.