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The stockholder meeting is always a good excuse for a roadtrip, so along with the grunt details of the meeting, I hope you'll enjoy hearing about some of the other things we experienced while visiting Packer land... (Skip down to THE MEETING if you just want the business stuff).

Drove up from Milwaukee Tuesday night with my girlfriend (GF) and stayed at my parents house, where they live outside of BRILLION. They've been retired for a year now, totally enraptured with the "happily ever after" portion of their lives. They built a lake home and have been spending pretty much of their time finishing it. They've been doing a lot of the interior work in order to save costs. Keeps them out of trouble, too.

We arrive in the evening, talk for a while, but we're tired, and it's off to bed. Morning brings a glorious day, cool, clear, low humidity. We take the country roads through Brown County, and it's like we're driving through a post card. Blue sky, rolling hills, the girls out in the fields working on filling those udders for the evening milking, and the milk trucks hauling off the liquid from the morning milking.

Only bad thing is the corn. A wet spring and then summer drought. It's obvious most of the corn is no good this year.

We hit Grren Bay with enough time to stop at a mall and check out the summer clearance sales at SHOPKO. Some mighty good deals there and we drop a few bucks.

THE MEETING

We park at Lambeau Field and the construction for the stadium rennovation is in full swing. I would say 2-3000 people showed up, but even for a fairly small crowd, parking was tight because of the construction. It was a topic of concern during the meeting.

The meeting was called to order by BOB HARLAN and one of the board members ran off some numbers on attendence and declared that a quorum was present. (Editor's note: The meeting is really a report to the stockholders so I doubt a quorum is necessary to conduct business).

COACH/GM REPORT - When introduced by Bob Harlan, Mike Sherman received a standing ovation. (Editor's note: I hope he'll be receiving one at the END of the season). Sherman discussed many aspects of the team, going into detail by position. He discussed the draft picks and the team in general. He said that he "wants the people to have high expectations of him," meaning he is going to answer for both the good and bad of how he performs this coming season as coach and as the new general manager.

I'm not capable of providing a word-by-word account, but Sherman impressed me by the details in which he described the various aspects of his report. He also had a plan mapped out covering the ENTIRE SEASON and what it what going to take to be IN the Superbowl and WIN the Superbowl. There are, of course, 30 other teams that want to ruin those plans, so it will be interesting to see how he deals with the pitfalls of the coming season. No need to worry about the highlights of the season, winning is always good.

I liked what he had to say, how he said it, and his determination to make it happen. It's just a matter now of seeing if he can do it.

TREASURER REPORT - The usual numbers of how we're doing with money. Packers were in the black this fiscal year by 2.7 million. He sees revenue as a three-legged stool: Revenue sharing, a HARD salary cap, and stadium revenue. With the stadium under way with rennovation, the third leg of the stool will soon be in place. However, it won't be until the 2004 fiscal year in which we'll be seeing the benefits of the stadium, so the next few years will be rough, money-wise.

INVESTMENT COMMITTEE REPORT - The Packers have funds sitting in investments and there are people who, of course, manage and oversee this. Lots of numbers, the money is in good hands, etc. That kind of stuff.

AUDIT COMMITTEE REPORT - The group that audtis the Packers financial books and situation gave the organization a "clean opinion."

CORPORATE MARKETING COMMITTEE REPORT - Sales of Packer merchandise is up 7% and they are very happy about that. A plug for the August 4 Packer Scrimmage/Family Night was also thrown in. More of the usual talk of numbers and dollars.

FOUNDATION REPORT - The Packers donate to various charities through several venues and this report was generally a pat on the back for the Packer organization and how they give back to the community. Good stuff to hear, but more dollars and numbers.

STADIUM CONSTRUCTION REPORT - Given by John Jones, he covered a number of details concerning the Lambeau rennovation. He discussed the "team" they had for the project, citing a number of architect and construction icons within the industry who are involved. He went over the phases of how the construction is to take place. If I understood this correctly, at the end of the 2001 season, the luxury boxes along the sidelines would be torn down and the new ones put into place. Then the additional seating would be added for these areas. This would mean that additional seats will be available in 2002!

Mr. Jones also talked about PARKING. He gave a long speech that pretty much can be summed up by when he said "If we all work together..." Also, details for parking would be announced in the next 7-10 days. (Editor's note: Since we all have to "work together" and they still don't have a plan for parking, I'm willing to bet that it's just going to be a bloody mess. ie., They have no real options for parking).

ELECTIONS REPORT - In a nutshell, of all those nominated to be on the Board of directors were elected. Over 95% of votes cast were in favor of those reommended by the Board. Since we all know how the stock is lopsided in how a few control the many, this is not surprising. I offer no opinion one way or another, it's just the way it is.

QUESTION AND ANSWER PERIOD (I will do my best to capture the CONTEXT of what was discussed as I did not record or am skilled with short hand; it's also hard to hear questions, some of the people are timid in front of the microphone).

Question ONE: "Thanks Mike Sherman." (Editor's note: It is kind of a waste of time when people think their one share of stock gives them the right to be goofy. But, they're fans, what you gonna do?)

Question TWO: "What do you think of our draft performance this year?" Mike Sherman gave a short speech that basically says we'll do the best with what we got.

Question THREE: This person gave a rather long speech that pretty much dealt with: "How many price increases will there be with packer tickets?" Harlan: The Packers are in the middle when it comes to ticket prices and will do their best to not raise prices. But at the same time, the team needs to be competitive." (Editor's note: I think the Packers will raise prices as much as possible, but will remain in the middle compared to the league).

Question FOUR: "Will the Packers have another stock sale to help with the stadium costs?" Harlan: We think we sold about as much stock as we're going to. We sold a lot of stock when it was first offered, but then sales dropped off tremendously. Those that wanted stock bought it right away and that was pretty much it.

Question FIVE: "I purchased a lifetime pass to the Hall of Fame. Will it still be good when they move into the new stadium?" Harlan: Yes.

Question SIX: "Will there be handicap parking at Lambeau with the construction?" Harlan: We will provide as much handicap parking as possible.

Question SEVEN: "Do you think we'll get Mark Chmura back out of retirement?" Crowd: "Boo!" Sherman: Mark officially retired from the NFL.

Question EIGHT: I didn't hear the first part of the question, but it seemed like the person wanted some kind of card or recognition for being a Season Ticket holder. (Editor's note: Being a Season Ticket holder may be special, but geez!). "Will the Packers offer for sale any of the metal sheeting that was removed from the stadium sides as a way to raise revenue?" Harlan: Things like that are being considered.

Question NINE: The person first went into a long speech praising Harlan and Jones for getting the stadium rennovation through the political process and then asked something along the lines of why did the Packers seem lost the first half of the season and then more focused the second half. Sherman: There was a "growing period" as the coaching staff and players got used to the system and each other. (Editor's note: It was a polite non-answer to what was basically a dumb question. You had to be there).

Question TEN: "With the additional seats coming with the stadium rennovation, is it possible to offer season ticket packages of 2, 3 and 4 games so that more people can get tickets?" Harlan: (Editor's note: Basically, the answer to the question is "No.") Harlan: A lot of people came of the waiting list from the tickets that were turned in due to the User Fee. Some people had been waiting 36 years. (Editor's note: Wow!). More names on the waiting list will get tickets when the new seats are ready and 4,000 seats are being reserved for the people of Brown County. (Editor's note: Harlan was making the point of many new people getting tickets as a way to say "No" to the question).

Question ELEVEN: "I wanted to offer some of my Packer tickets to charities so that they could raise money through a raffle. However, I was afraid to do so because I wasn't sure of who would be using my tickets, I didn't want to lose my tickets because of me trying to do something good." Harlan referred the question to "Jason," a counsel for the Packers: We would take note of how and why the problem occurred. It would be doubtful that you would lose your tickets under such circumstances.

Question TWELVE: "Will handicap seating increase in the rennovated stadium?" Harlan: Yes.

Question THIRTEEN: "What happened with naming rights?" Harlan: It was passed but it is my hope that Lambeau Field will never have its named changed. (Crowd applauds).

Question FOURTEEN: I couldn't hear the question, something to do with the players, specifically Billy Schroeder. Sherman: Billy had a good season last year and is included in our plans for the coming season.

Question FIFTEEN: "What percentage of merchandising comes from shared sources?" (Not sure who question was referred to). Answer: We're not sure, but please purchase through the Pro Shop!

Question SIXTEEN: "Will I have to pay the User Fee again when we transfer the tickets within my family?" Mark Wagner (Ticket Director): No.

Question SEVENTEEN: "Seems to me we've had tougher schedules the past few years. Doesn't seem fair." Harlan: We don't set the schedule, there's a formula for how the schedule is set, and it says a lot if you have a tough schedule and still win.

Question EIGHTEEN: Long winded question that I couldn't hear, something to do with expenses versus player salaries and comparing to the Redskins who spent a lot but came up short. Harlan: Our biggest problem is keeping up with the league with stadium revenue. With the Redskins, it's not just how much you spend, it's how WISELY you spend it.

Question NINETEEN: Couldn't hear, but some rambling question about parking. John Jones: We're looking at a long-term solution. (Editor's note: I don't think they have a solution).

Question TWENTY: Something about Leroy Butler on the tial end of his career, who would step up? Sherman: Probably Antuan Edwards.

Question TWENTY ONE: "Can there be a Lambeau Cam pointed toward the construction?" Harlan: Yes, it's been tested already and should be in place within the next two weeks.

MEETING ADJOURNED.

What's nice at this point is Harlan and Sherman take time to sign autograpghs for everyone who wants one. I already have Harlan's but didn't feel like waiting out the mob in front of Sherman. I did stop by Harlan and make a quick comment. I have two "Gold" Season Tickets and thanked him for allowing the Gold package to get good games. There are people out there who feel the Gold package should get the less-desireable games.

I also ask MARK WAGNER, the Ticket Director, two questions. 1) How many people came off the waitng list from the tickets that were turned in? He said about 2700, which included the 4-500 names from the old Milwaukee waiting list. This means that virutally EVERYONE on the waiting list got tickets; I expected a number to drop out because of the User Fee, but no one is blaking at the cost. 2) How high did the Gold tickets float up the list? (People on the waiting list have the option of turning down Gold tickets and waiting for Green). Mark said they've gone through the first 4,000 names or so. That means the Gold tickets are not floating up very high at all.

GF and I then met up with JOHN, an internet friend who I've corresponded with in the past on Packer lists. We went to KROLL'S for lunch, it being the first time for all of us to eat their. We've all heard about Kroll's from other Packer fans, the joint being a tradition to eat at when in Green Bay. And from what I've heard, everything was true about their hamburgers: Greasy and good. Damn good, and damn greasy. The three of us talked about Packers, ate lunch, and then it was time to head for home.

We drove back down the interstate, still a glorious day of blue sky. We stopped in MISHICOT to visit the OLD SCHOOL HOUSE. It's been converted into a gift shop and craft store. Trust me on this one, guys: Take your woman there and she'll love you for it, if she's the kind who loves to browse and shop.

That's about it. Arrived home safely, typed this up, hoped you enjoyed hearing a little news about the Packers...