A spectacular book fair with real Lambeau Ladies in the house

I was so excited to see Ruth Ann Skoronski make her way into the room during our presentation at the Wisconsin Book Festival on Saturday, that I interrupted our gracious moderator, WMTV morning anchor Gabriella Rusk mid sentence.

“Hey!” I said into my mic (with the eloquence of a barnyard Holstein), “We have another Lambeau Lady in the house!”

Mrs. Skoronski, as she is still known to me when I see her in person, was the first interview we conducted as we prepared to write our book, Lambeau Ladies: the Boundary-Breaking Women Behind Lombardi’s Packers.

Wife of Packer Hall of Famer and offensive team captain Bob Skoronski, Ruth Ann bridges the NFL story in two significant ways.

The Skoronskis came to Green Bay during the before times in 1956, three years prior to Coach Lombardi. So she speaks insightfully about how life changed for the players and their families when the legendary coach and his wife, Marie, came to town. (Although she does point out that they missed some of the Packers’ most difficult years due to Bob’s military service commitments.)

As a rookie wife three years ahead of the Glory Years though, Ruth Ann lived with several other Packer families at the Rainbow Hotel in Dyckesville, WI.

“That was the big time,” she chuckles.

Back then, the young Packer families had two hotel rooms a piece. One acted as the living/kitchen area, and the other as a bedroom.

“But you had to go outside to get from one room to the other,” Ruth Ann hilariously recalled.

Housing improved for their growing family during the Lombardi years and the Skoronskis eventually built a house on Careful Drive.

Ruth Ann speaks fondly about the communities they enjoyed in both living situations and the friendships they shared.

In addition to being a charter member of the NFL WAGS (wives and girlfriends), Ruth Ann is what I like to refer to as a GIG (grid iron grandma). Her grandson Peter Skoronski is an elite offensive lineman for the Tennessee Titans.

The Skoronski family moved to Menasha after Bob retired from the NFL and we lived just seven miles away from each other.

As I write in the book, they set a standard for politeness that we Kostelnik kids were strongly encouraged to match.

That’s why I found my gaffe on Saturday so funny when I thought about it the next day.

I really couldn’t contain myself though. These ladies have such compelling stories to share that I’m always grateful when people can hear them directly.

My mom, Peggy Kostelnik, has also been joining us for some of these presentations and she tells some really good stories as well.

We’re grateful, as always, to these eloquent conveyors of Wisconsin history who played such a key role in the development of the Packer franchise.

We’re also grateful to the Wisconsin Book Fair and to our publisher, the Wisconsin Historical Society Press, for giving us the opportunity to share these stories of friendship and perseverance.

Go Pack Go!