Green Bay Packers fans are a proud community. It’s not just the tailgating in freezing temperatures or the adrenaline rush of witnessing a Hail Mary, but fans love that their team is the only publicly-owned NFL team. Mary Jane Herber and Molly Schroeder-Linzmeier, two former coworkers at the Brown County Library, talked about their love of the green and gold as part of a StoryCorps Mobile Tour stop in Green Bay, Wisconsin.
(The following excerpt has been edited for brevity and clarity)
Mary Jane Herber (l) and Molly Schroeder-Linzmeier (r), librarians at the Brown County Library, at a recording session during the StoryCorps Mobile Tour stop in Green Bay, Wisconsin on August 11, 2023. (Courtesy of StoryCorps)
==
Mary Jane Herber: Back in the early 1990s when they were talking about doing the referendum for the stadium to be expanded, people would say to me, “You’re not going to vote for that.”
I’d say, “Yes, I am.”
They’d say, “Why?”
I’d pick out a community in the Midwest, a state capital, same size … the people in that community — the businessmen in that community — would give anything to be able to say, “I’m from XYZ, and it’s the home of the Packers.” It opens a business door — whether the Packers are playing well or poorly, there’s still that door.
(They may say), “Oh, Vince Lombardi! Oh, Brett Farve! Oh, Bart Star!”
It opens that door for business because people know where Green Bay is.
Molly Schroeder-Linzmeier: And I think it’s pretty cool, too, that anyone can be an owner. I got my ownership (shareholder) certificate like a year ago?
MJH: Your stock certificate?
MSL: Yeah, my stock — (laughs) I don’t even know what I’m talking about — and I got it as a present. I was like, “Look at me. I’m finally an owner!” I’m meeting people from across the country and I can say, “Yep, I’m one of the owners of the Green Bay Packers, no big deal.”
MJH: So am I! I’m an owner of the Green Bay Packers. I have one share.
MSL: Me too!
-
- Molly Schroeder Linzmeier and her husband, Jason Linzmeier, at Lambeau Field on December 3, 2023 when the Green Bacy Packers beat the Kansas City Chiefs 27-19. (Courtesy of Molly Schroeder-Linzmeier)
-
- The love of the Packers runs so deep for Molly Schroeder Linzmeier and Jason Linzmeier that they took photos outside of Lambeau Field on their wedding day in 2023. (Courtesy of Molly Schroeder-Linzmeier)
MJH: And you know, my family’s so conservative, you know, we just don’t spend money wildly. My mother had the catalog for the (Packers) Pro Shop on her kitchen table and I said, “Where did you get this?”
“I guess I probably got it because I bought a share of stock when it was for sale,” she said. This is back in the 90s.
I said “You bought a share? I bought a share!”
My brother bought a share. None of us told each other that we bought stock, because we were all afraid that the other person was going to say to us, “You what?!” Because it doesn’t pay any dividend. You can’t sell it. You can only give it to a relative. It doesn’t move you up on the season ticket list. It does nothing other than to make sure that the Green Bay Packers stay in Green Bay, Wisconsin.
Mary Jane Herber poses with a mock Green Bay Packers stock certificate at the Brown County Library. She’s been a shareholder since the 1990s and has been working as a librarian in Brown County since 1971. (Courtesy of Mary Jane Herber)
But that team would be gone if there had been a sole owner. It’s the businessmen of this community in the 20s and the 30s and the 50s and the 60s that made sure, you know? (There’s) that executive committee of maybe nine people on the committee. Then there’s 40 people on the board as a whole, lots of judges and women in business.
When we had “Antiques Roadshow” here in back in 2017, somebody was sitting at a table for lunch. Some of the executive producers and stuff for the “Antiques Roadshow” came over and sat down with them. They got talking about Packer stock, and she said, “You don’t get a dividend?” No.
“You don’t get moved up the list?” No.
“I’m going to have to go back to Boston and have my husband explain this to me.” Because it made no sense to her that people would plunk down $100. I think the last time it was $200 or $300 for a share. I don’t know. I know it went up from $100 my mother and I paid.
MSL: Yeah. I don’t think it was $100.
(Editor’s note: It was $300.)
MJH: No, I think it went up. You know, people (would say), “What happened to the money?”
Well, they used it to work on the stadium and do things to keep things up to speed. It’s one of the best places in the world to view sports. That’s what they always say. You know, Roland-Garros and the French Open (for tennis). There’s other places that you want to be and Lambeau Field is one of them.
-
- Brown County librarian Mary Jane Herber at a recording session during the StoryCorps Mobile Tour stop in Green Bay, Wisconsin on August 11, 2023. (Courtesy of StoryCorps)
-
- Former Brown County librarian Molly Schroeder-Linzmeier at a recording session during the StoryCorps Mobile Tour stop in Green Bay, Wisconsin on August 11, 2023. (Courtesy of StoryCorps)
This story came from an interview recorded at StoryCorps, a national initiative to record and collect stories of everyday people. During a StoryCorps Mobile Tour stop in Green Bay, Wisconsin from August 10 – September 8, 2023, 110 conversations were recorded and preserved. Excerpts were selected and produced by Wisconsin Public Radio staff.
Major support for the StoryCorps Mobile Tour is made possible by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, in partnership with the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress.
