Posted: 1/10/06
Esches are Super Packer fans
Bob and Ardyce love their Green Bay football team
By David Heiller
Argus News Editor
A football game was playing on the Esch television set when I stopped in for a visit on Thursday, December 29.
Bob Esch, 73, said it was from 1978, the Packers versus the Giants. Bob taped it on his VCR way back then.
ěIíve got a million tapes,î he said.
ěWho won the game?î I asked.
Bob answered that New York won. ěForrest Greggís team hardly ever won,î he said. That was the strike season, and both teams played a lot of scrubs.
Bob knows stuff like that. In fact, he knows a lot of stuff like that. Mind-boggling amounts.
When it comes to the Green Bay Packers, he is the King of fans, and his friendly wife, Ardyce, is the Queen.
Thatís why I visited their house at 704 south Pine Street, the one with the Packer flags flying on the porch. Bob was one of 10 finalists in a Green Bay Packer Fan Hall of Fame contest that took place in December.
Dan Tweten, Bobís next-door neighbor, nominated him. The very informative form that Tweten submitted is printed as a sidebar to this article.
Bob didnít win the contest. Kathy Lazarro of Milwaukee took that honor. Bob is a little suspicious that a person from Milwaukee won the contest, given that it was sponsored by the Milwaukee Sentinel.
But that really didnít bother Bob. I got the impression that nothing much bothers him. ěItís just a joke, you know,î he said of the contest.
He and Ardyce, 69, went to Green Bay on December 10 for the announcement of the award, accompanied by their son, Randy, and Tweten.
In Green Bay, Bob and Ardyce were featured on a TV show called Inside Lambeau at Curlyís Pub. ěThey said we were from enemy territory,î Ardyce said. Then she quickly added, ěThey were all very nice people.î
It was quite a trip. Ardyce bought a pink cap to support a cancer fundraising drive sponsored by quarterback Brett Favreís wife, Deanna. She had Packer guard/center Grey Ruegamer sign it. She got to take home Lambeau Field bottled water.
The Esches were allowed to walk through the tunnel and onto Lambeau field. They also saw Brett Favreís pick-up truck. Ardyce showed me a photo that she took of it.
I asked Bob if he was a big Packer fan. ěSounds that way, donít it?î he answered. OK, it was a dumb question.
ěIím more of a Warrior fan,î Ardyce added. She can be found at practically every Caledonia High School athletic event.
ěShe has season tickets every year,î Bob said.
That triggered a funny memory. Ardyce did day care for 35 years, including caring for twins from Spring Grove. Bob worked on the kids to become Packer fans. One day one of the children told Bob, ěMy dad told me the Packers stink.î Bob recalled that with a big laugh, something he is prone to do.
Began in 1946
Bobís devotion to the Packers began in 1946, when he went to a Wisconsin Synod preparatory high school in Watertown,
Wisconsin, 40 miles from Milwaukee. Bobís football coach there was a big Packer fan, and had played for Red Grange in Illinois.
I asked Bob what he liked about the Packers.
ěThis year I donít like anything,î Bob answered in his booming voice. Green Bay ended its season with a 4-12 record.
His favorite player was linebacker Ray Nitschke. ěHe hit them behind the line of scrimmage instead of five yards ahead,î Bob said.
ěReggie White,î Ardyce added, ěNobody can beat Reggie White.î
As for their favorite highlights, Ardyce listed The Ice Bowl at the top. She was referring to the NFL championship game against Dallas on December 31, 1967, when the temperature was minus 13, with a wind chill of minus 40. Green Bay won 21-17 on the last play of the game.
ěArdyce called the [winning] play,î Bob said. ěArdyce said, ëQuarterback sneak,í and sure enough Bart Starr snuck over there.î
A house full
The Esch home is packed with Packer memorabilia. Ardyce buys a lot of it at garage sales in La Crosse, and they get gifts from their children too. The living room wall has a framed Green Bay Packer stock certificate. The team is publicly owned.
Most of the items are in the basement in the Packers Room. Itís the kind of room where you canít take everything in in one viewing Here is a partial list of what I saw: bobble-heads, ornaments, and a toilet seat handpainted in green and gold by the late Gabe Arnold with the words ěCaledoniaís biggest Cheesehead.î Thereís a Packer watch with a football on the second hand; mugs, mug holders, glasses, towels, banners, pencil holders, water bottles, Wheaties boxes from the 1996 Superbowl season, hats, caps, mittens, shirts, jars, footballs, blankets, wastebaskets, a Packer village of miniature buildings, posters, birdhouses, and Packer yearbooks for every year since 1974.
I didnít see any of those big cheesehead things, so I asked Bob about that. ěIím a Minnesota Packer fan,î he explained. He drew the line with the cheese head.
Ardyce said she wanted to thank all the people that voted for them in the Fan Hall of Fame contest. The Esches donít know how many that was, because the Packers didnít release that information, Bob said. Hmmm, maybe thereís something to that conspiracy theory.
ěEven Vikings fans voted for us from all over,î Bob added. And he means all over, in many states, and even Hong Kong and Guatemala.
The Packersí season may be over for now, but in a sense it is never over for Bob Esch. Heís got those tapes, remember, a million of them.
EDITORíS NOTE: Dan Tweten of Caledonia nominated Bob Esch to the Green Bay Packer Fan Hall of Fame with the following statements:
I would like to nominate and ask for your selection for my next-door neighbor Mr. Bob Esch. Bob has been and still remains faithful to his team in winning and losing seasons. He is now seventy-three years old and has been a Green Bay Packers fan since 1946. He also started recording on his VCR, every game since 1978. Bob will re-watch the games from the past seasons during the summer and watch the current seasonís games during the week when there are no other games on. Of course, he is watching the games as he tapes them cheering on his favorite team the Green Bay Packers.
Bob is a semi-retired plumber and everyone in the community of Caledonia knows that when you say Green Bay Packers they immediately think of Mr. Esch. He is proud of his newly remodeled Packers room in his basement. In his spare time he also is an avid horseshoe pitcher and a bowler. Bob and I play horseshoes in his backyard and he has his horseshoes painted Green and Gold for the Packers because he loves them so much. He also has a bowling ball, which he does not use, that sits by his favorite Packers chair. It has the Green Bay Packers logo on it and Super Bowl XXXIís 35-23 win over the Patriots inscribed on it. Bob really deserves to be selected for the Green Bay Packers Fan Hall of Fame. He is very dedicated to his team and I know without a doubt that he will be extremely honored to be selected to the Packers Fan Hall of Fame with all the other elite fans across this great nation. I assure you that you will be happy with the selection for Bob. He is true to his team, respects his team and will always follow his team through thick and thin. Mr. Esch is also proud to announce that he is a ěpart-ownerî of the Green Bay Packers because of his Packers stock. He even looks like an owner when he puts on his Packers necktie that he wore for his church directory picture. I hope you enjoyed reading about this great gentleman, neighbor and friend who I feel is the greatest Green Bay packers Fan in the world! Thank you for voting for Mr. Esch.
Caledonia Argus
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E-Mail: editor.argus@ecm-inc.com