Packer Fans Get a Bye at ICE USA

Published: March 17, 2011, By Yolanda Simonsis

I live in Chicago, so I’m a Bears fan (duh). Call me naive, but when I received a press release, from Tim Ward (another Chicagoan) of H+A Intl., about ICE USA offering Green Bay Packer fans free entrance to the expo that debuts on April 6-8 in Orlando, I figured it must have left a bad taste in Tim’s mouth to write such a press release. Turns out, Tim’s a Rams fan. Go figure!

But that’s the way of the world, I guess. Michael Boyle, event director for ICE show organizer Mack Brooks Exhibitions, loves the Packers. So have fun at ICE USA, Packer fans. Here’s the deal, and it’s real:

Anyone with a Wisconsin driver’s license or wearing Packers’ gear, including Cheese Head hats, can save the $40 admission fee.

“The Green Bay area is the hub of the converting industry, and we feel that the Super Bowl Champion fans should get in free if they are willing to make the trip to sunny Florida,” said Boyle. “We have had our billboard sign in the Green Bay airport for several weeks now enticing Green Bay area folks to escape the cold weather and come to the show in sunny Florida.”

As if the $40 savings wasn’t enough, Boyle also elaborates:

• There is a golf tournament the day before the show opens on April 5.

• The Milwaukee Bucks will be visiting the Orlando Magic later that evening.

• Mickey and Harry Potter love Packer fans.

• There are a lot of places to buy cheese.

• And for those people who get homesick for the cold weather, there is the ICE BAR where it is constantly 27 degrees and everyone wears hats, coats and gloves.

I won’t be showing up in a Cheese Head hat to take advantage of the offer, but I get in free anyway. So if you’re interested in the deal, click here to visit the ICE USA website.

My one consolation? While the Bears didn’t win this year, they lost to the new NFL Super Bowl XLV Champs.