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 Packers Pacific Booster Club began in the summer of 1987 as part of a larger fan group called Displaced Diehards. Lambeau West was the original name for the Green Bay Packer fan club (Packers Pacific did not come into being until the following year). There were several other groups including the 49ers and Browns. Displaced Diehards was the idea of a 49ers fan who saw the potential for gathering fans from teams with national followings. Unfortunately his idea died there. He did recruit one active and eager Packers fan to find a location large enough to accommodate Packers fans every Sunday to watch games via satellite. That eager member is our very own Bob Drace. Bob single handily found a place and worked out the details to allow the charter members to view the games. Bob found Champions Pizza in the City of Upland, California. The deal was set and Packers games would now be available. Viewing games back then was a treat. We didn't even mind that most weeks we missed the first 15 minutes of the broadcast, while they searched for a satellite signal. We were use to seeing the Pack, maybe, once or twice a year, if at all, so missing part of the game was better than nothing. Telephone calls were made weekly to sports bars all over Southern California in attempts to find the correct satellite settings. On several occasions we never saw the game at all. People who drove miles to see the game would sit around and talk about the Packers while watching the local game for an update on the Packer's score. Speaking of driving, we were the only game in town if you wanted to watch Packers games. Since the beginning, we insisted that no other games be shown on the other televisions. Most of the sports bars would show several games at a time with the sound only available to the game with the largest number of fans. If there weren't enough Packers fans, you wouldn't see the game at all. That drawing point brought fans to PPBC from 5 counties. One of our longest drives was from Simi Valley to Upland (74 miles). But all was not well with the Displaced Diehards. The founder was never around. He took the membership money and was rarely seen. He did show up at one game only to be bombarded with questions about where the club was going and what was going to be done about the poor conditions of the facility. The service was horrible and the bathrooms were often out of service. Things got so bad that Bob decide to get help and form a new club. Before the first season ended, Bob enlisted the help, with some arm twisting, from charter member Dan Scott. For the 1988 season, Bob and Dan changed the name of the club to Packers Pacific Booster Club and set out to improve on a great idea that went south. A few guidelines set forth back then have always been a part of the Club. We would always be in a family oriented establishment, where children were welcome, and Packer games would be the MAIN game shown. The following year brought some stability, but the location was not much better. A lengthy search was conducted before the two found a suitable place. The move took place in midseason to Lamppost Pizza in West Covina, California. Centrally located and much better service. The clubs popularity grew quickly as word spread. Flyers were distributed when the Milwaukee Brewers played the Angels and through the Wisconsin Badger Newsletter. Local newspaper's ran articles about the Club, telling Packers fans they now had a place to watch their beloved team. Membership grew the first few years to over 200 fans. Great you say, not when Lamppost Pizza would only seat about 100. Through confrontations with Raider fans (surprise, what else is new) and bulging numbers the club managed to stick together. As satellite dishes became more popular, the number of sports bars showing multiple games grew. Soon the membership of PPBC dropped, which was okay since there aren't many places that can handle 200 people every Sunday morning. The Club made several more moves throughout the Los Angeles (county) area, due to closures of the restaurants that the Club dealt with. One pizza place in La Mirada went through three owners during the 4 years that PPBC was there. After a year and a half of bouncing around, PPBC found a more stable home at Paradise Pizza & Grill. Originally on Grand Avenue in Walnut,California, Paradise offered great service and stability in ownership. Eddie Dorantes, while not a life long Packers fan, soon grew fond of the 75 plus Packer fans who arrived at his door every Sunday morning. Eddie often jokes that his favorite color is green. We like to believe that it's the green of the Packer's uniform and not money. The Grand Avenue location served us through the Super Bowl season which saw one heck of a party. Grills cooking up Brats, balloons, best dressed contests and television news crews filming Packers fans living it up after 20 years of disappointment. I'd have to say that the 1996 NFC Championship and the Super Bowl games were the highlight of Packers Pacific Booster Club. Tears and beer flowed freely as the Pack returned to greatness. Paradise Pizza moved the following year and we followed. Now in an expanded restaurant on Valley Blvd. in Walnut, Packers Pacific Booster Club and Paradise Pizza continued to provide a haven for Packer fans from far and near. It is not unusual for Packer fans from other states to call and ask if they can watch the game with us, while on vacation or business in Southern California. Two police officers from New Jersey, on an extradition, joined us for the "other" Super Bowl party, and enjoyed their stay, despite the lose. Often times the visiting fans would hear about us by calling the Green Bay Packer's main office. After the untimely closing of Paradise Pizza in 2002, Packers Pacific was on the move again. We found our current home, where we'll be meeting again this year, at the All America Sports Bar & Grill in La Habra. Packers Pacific even grew political in the early 1990's when the NFL threatened legal action against sports bars for showing games via satellite. PPBC joined a sports bar in San Diego, calling for boycotts of the NFL's advertisers. The media picked up on it and the NFL left us alone. It wasn't much longer before sports bars and restaurants would be paying for the right to show the games. Some gray hair has popped up here and there, the babies and toddlers are now adults, many with children of their own, but the love of the Green Bay Packers has never diminished. Great friendships were formed throughout the years as new fans joined old fans to watch the Packers. Many of the members are stockholders in the Green Bay Packers, showing their enduring love for the team. Trips to see the Packers live have included, Phoenix, San Francisco, Seattle, San Diego and Green Bay. With football games of your choice now available in your home, our numbers dropped and the ability to obtain suitable locations to watch games diminished bringing about the end of an era. Packers Pacific Booster Club officially closed it's doors in 2008 after 21 years. To all those loyal members who made Packers Pacific Booster Club the first and finest fan club of its type in the country....thank's for the memories. It was fun while it lasted. Bob Drace Dan Scott
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Packers Pacific Booster Club is not affiliated with the Green Bay Packers or the NFL |
