Packers banners spark Ashwaubenon flap
- Oneida St. man says he, neighbors, were told to remove Packers banners hanging outside their homes
- Village officials to meet Thursday to discuss the issue; president says banners might be allowable
ASHWAUBENON - Should there be a seasonal limitation on displaying one's football fandom?
That's what some Oneida Street residents are asking. They say they were told to take down pro-Green Bay Packers and Wisconsin Badgers banners hung outside two residences in the shadow of Lambeau Field.
Tyler Jozwiak said he and his neighbors were directed by the village's code-enforcement officer to remove banners that adorned his rented duplex at 2026 S. Oneida St. and his friends' place at the adjacent Game Day Apartments, a two-story building at 2032 S. Oneida St. No citations were issued, he said.
"Everyone in Green Bay knows there's no offseason for being a Packers fan," Jozwiak said. "This is a slap in all of our faces."
Village President Mike Aubinger said he believes part-time Code Enforcement Officer Jim Molloy had concerns about two signs adorned with Christmas-type lights at Game Day Apartments. Those signs — bearing a hand-painted "G" for the Packers, and a "W" for Wisconsin — have been taken down.
Aubinger could not say why anyone living along the street might have been directed to remove banners.
"I don't know how that would differ from a flag flying from the porch," he said. "I'm not interested in desecrating people's icons. I'm not even sure this is illegal ... I did ask our (enforcement people), and they were looking into it."
Village officials plan to meet on Thursday to discuss the issue, Aubinger said. Telephone messages left this week for Building Inspector Todd Gerbers, who oversees code-enforcement, were not returned.
Related:Village wrestles with "thorny issue" of game-day rental housing
Jozwiak said banners have been hanging outside the properties for several years, although he and the renters at Game Day Apartments sometimes change what they display.
There is little doubt Jozwiak bleeds green and gold. His Twitter account — @Packer2026 — sports a photo of a Packers flag being displayed in front of the Mount Rushmore National Memorial in South Dakota. His Twitter background is a photo of Game Day apartments adorned with six Packers flags, plus those of the United States and state of Wisconsin. Each is roughly 3 feet by 5 feet.
Jozwiak said he removed the flags outside his duplex, but took to Twitter in the past week seeking support for his effort to keep the banners up. A number of fans tweeted messages of support. Former Packers tight end Tom Crabtree weighed in with an "unfortunate if true."
Four of the banners at the apartment building remained up this week, adorning the railing on a second floor balcony facing Oneida Street and The Don Hutson Center, the Packers' indoor practice facility.
Displaying one's Packers passion is a way of life throughout Northeastern Wisconsin, but it's particularly strong along Oneida and the other streets immediately around Lambeau Field. Several area residents paint multicolored murals with pro-Packers messages on fences along nearby Lombardi Avenue in Green Bay each year, and its not uncommon to see Packers flags, "G-Force" displays and similar expressions of love at properties within sight of the stadium.
Aubinger said he has seen Packers flags flying in some yards in the village for a year or more.
Packers fan behind Allouez goal post dies
Elsewhere in Brown County, drivers can see a dinosaur painted with a Packers T-shirt outside the convenience store at Ashland and Lombardi avenues, a set of goal posts along Webster Avenue on Allouez and a statue painted to look like former Packers great Donald Driver in front of Green Bay's Titletown Brewing Co.
The apartment building itself is Packers-themed. Instead of numbering units 1-2-3-4, the building uses the numbers of retired greats including Brett Favre, Bart Starr, Ray Nitschke and Reggie White: 4-15-66-92.
dschneid@greenbaypressgazette.com and follow him on Twitter @PGDougSchneider