Not many people know this, but I own the Green Bay Packers. I guess it would be more correct to say that I am a stockholder in Green Bay Packers, Inc. Ok, I really only own one share of stock, but that does not make me any less an owner. Kathy gave me my share as a Christmas present in 1997 and I have proudly displayed it on a wall in our house ever since. It hangs by my team banners where there used to be a photo of Brett Favre. If you’re curious about such things, Green Bay Packers, Inc. currently has 111,921 stockholders who own a total of 4,749,925 shares of stock. That means I own 0.000021% of the team.
One of the responsibilities of a stockholder is to make a pilgrimage every year, if possible, to Lambeau Field to attend the annual stockholders’ meeting. For the first ten years as a stockholder we lived in Portland, Oregon, and I was unable to attend. During our first few years back in Wisconsin conflicts also prevented me from attending. This irresponsible behavior as a proud Packer Stockholder made me feel very guilty and I worried that the ghost of Vince Lombardi might come some night and rip up my share.
This year my luck changed. Yesterday Kathy and I drove up to the hallowed grounds of Lambeau Field to attend the meeting. I won’t glamorize things too much. This was an actual stockholders’ meeting, which means that after some interesting opening remarks by President Mark Murphy and General Manager Ted Thompson we had to sit through reports by the treasurer, the building committee, and others who play important roles in the business but are not the most exciting orators.
After the meeting we had plenty of time to have lunch in Curly’s Pub and visit the Pro Shop where, believe it or not, we were given plenty of time to purchase souvenirs.
For the less fortunate who were unable to share in this adventure, here are some photos of our day.
