Gene Lasch a candidate for Packers FAN Hall of Fame

Shawano resident has fond memories of team
By: 
Morgan Rode
Sports Editor

Shawano resident Gene Lasch is among the 10 finalists for the Green Bay Packers FAN Hall of Fame.

Lasch, 86, was honored to be among the 10 top fans this year, saying he “felt like a Packer player who just won the Super Bowl.” To describe it in a word, he used “supercalifragilisticexpialidocious” because there wasn’t another word that described how he felt.

Lasch, a Korean war veteran, has a number of memorable moments involving the Packers.

It all started back in 1960. While he was in college, he and a friend traveled from Shawano to Green Bay to celebrate the team’s Western Division Title with other fans.

In 1997, as he and his late wife, Cynthia, were flying to Hawaii for their 30th wedding anniversary, the Packers were battling the New England Patriots in the Super Bowl. Lasch asked if the scores of the game could be announced over the intercom, and he was granted that wish.

As the scores were announced and the Packers went on to win the title, Lasch would exclaim, “Ya-hoo! Go Pack, go!” which was echoed by several other passengers.

About 27 years ago, Lasch recalled a story where he decided to attend his first Packers game because “otherwise, I might get excommunicated from the state.”

He attempted to buy a single ticket to a game but was turned away because of the high demand for Packer games. He was told that sometimes fans sell tickets on gameday and decided to try his luck that way.

After parking about two miles away from Lambeau Field to avoid any parking lot fees, he walked near the stadium and held up a sign reading “Need one ticket.”

Luckily for Lasch, a man approached him and sold him a ticket at face value, $18. That was just the start of the gameday experience for Lasch, as the kind fan invited him to a nearby motor home, where there were beer, brats and hamburgers to enjoy and a bathroom to use before the start of the game.

The Packers hosted the Tampa Bay Buccaneers that day and won.

Lasch, who used to do some writing for the Shawano Leader, recalled another Packer memory from when he was 70. He made arrangements with the team to have both he and his grandkids, Christina and Jimmy, ride their bikes with the Packers before a training camp practice.

“The kids got in all right with their bicycles, but the sergeant of arms wasn’t going to let me in because I wasn’t a kid,” Lasch recalled. “I opened up my shirt and said, ‘You got to look deep. I’m a kid at heart.’”

Lasch was soon allowed in and got the chance to bike with the other kids and Packer players as they worked their way over to the practice field.

During the team’s latest Super Bowl win over the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2011, Lasch was in Hawaii. Every time the Packers scored, Lasch would blow a conch shell on the patio.

For an 80th birthday present, Lasch was gifted a pair of Packers tickets from his children, Aaron and Bonnie. He and his cousin Gary attended a game against the Kansas City Chiefs five years ago.

Before the game, Lasch customized a hat to include a fish head on the front and fin tail out the back. He then used a yellow sponge as a cheesehead for the fish.

After dancing the polka at halftime with a female fan who sat next to them, Lasch said, “Even our fish wear cheeseheads.”

One of Lasch’s most prized Packer memorabilia items is a shirt that was signed by Green Bay great Ray Nitschke.

Lasch also got an autograph from Fuzzy Thurston and also got to look and feel a Super Bowl ring he was wearing at the time.

While attending a Fourth of July parade in Bonduel, the Packer fanatic came across a lady who worked in the Packers ticketing office. She had on a Super Bowl ring from when the Packers topped the Steelers and gave it to Lasch, who proceeded to try it on.

Lasch, who believes the team has the pieces to win it all this year, said watching the Packers is therapeutic for him. “It flushes the plaque from my arteries and from my brain cells. And depending on how close the score is, it takes me a day or two to recover from their game.”

Voting for the Packers FAN Hall of Fame runs through Jan. 31. Details regarding voting and the rest of the candidates can be found at https://www.packers.com/fans/fan-hall-of-fame.

sports@newmedia-wi.com