The Lumberjack Band was a marching band that played at

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. It ...

' games. The band earned its name because of the plaid flannel jackets its members originally wore. Formed in 1921, the Lumberjack Band was originally made up of volunteers. Throughout the 1920s and 1930s, the band accompanied groups of fans to road games, especially to those with the

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Bears have won nine NF ...

. In 1931, the band first played " Go! You Packers! Go!", the official fight song of the Green Bay Packers. The Lumberjack Band was a fixture at Packer games, and an integral part of the City Stadium experience.

Curly Lambeau Earl Louis "Curly" Lambeau (April 9, 1898 – June 1, 1965) was an American professional football player and coach in the National Football League (NFL). Lambeau, along with his friend and fellow Green Bay, Wisconsin native George Whitney Calho ...

, founder, player, and first coach of the Packers, was convinced that the band played a role in many Packer victories. A bandstand was built for the Lumberjack Band at one corner of the field, and early designs for New City Stadium, later renamed Lambeau Field, showed separate stands with a bandstand in one corner, before the decision was made to have a bowl-shaped stadium. When Vince Lombardi became head coach and general manager, he upgraded the band's look, saying the traditional flannels did not fit with the team's new stadium. The band was renamed simply "The Green Bay Packer Band" and was set up in the southwest corner of the field, occasionally seeing "guest appearances" by players running out of bounds. The uniforms changed to green military-style outfits. At the time of Lambeau's death in 1965, he was dating Mary Jane Sorgel, a

majorette A majorette is a baton twirler whose twirling performance is often accompanied by dance, movement, or gymnastics; they are primarily associated with marching bands during parades. Majorettes can also spin knives, fire knives, flags, light-up ba ...

for the Green Bay Packer Band. Wilner Burke directed the band during this period, giving way to Lovell Ives in 1982. In the 1990s, the use of recorded music and the airing of advertisements on video screens led to the band's playing time being cut back. By 1997, the band was disbanded and re-formed as three six-piece bands called the "Green Bay Packers Tailgaters", which roam the Lambeau Field parking lot before games, playing songs by request for tailgating fans. Kevin Van Ess is the current lead contact for the Green Bay Packer Tailgater Bands.

References

External links

Green Bay Packers official web site
{{Green Bay Packers Sports in Green Bay, Wisconsin History of the Green Bay Packers 1921 establishments in Wisconsin Musical groups from Wisconsin Musical groups established in 1921