Elkhorn postmaster helps father and son get to Packers game
By Heather Ruenz
Editor
Any fan of the green and gold will likely say attending a Green Bay Packers game at Lambeau Field is an opportunity too good to pass up. One local fan recently found himself in the stands, cheering “Go Pack Go!” alongside his son, thanks to the intervention of what he described as a “special lady.”
Jeff Ingersoll, Elkhorn, heard two tickets for the Jan. 8 Wild Card game between the Packers and the New York Giants in Green Bay were available from his mom.
“My cousin had two tickets available and Jeff wanted them so he could take his son to the game,” Kathy Ingersoll, Jeff’s mom, said.
Her cousin, who lives in Minnesota, put the tickets in the mail early the week of the game but they didn’t arrive in a couple of days as expected.
“I contacted the Elkhorn Post Office and talked to Karen Babcock, the Postmaster. She worked on it for us for three days, tracing it and kept in touch with us constantly,” Kathy Ingersoll said. “She told us her husband is the biggest Packers fan so she was going to figure this out.”
Though she was able to trace the envelope to a couple of locations, it eventually became clear the tickets had been lost in the mail and, even if located, would not make it to Elkhorn in time for Jeff and Josh Ingersoll to make it to the game.
That’s when Babcock took matters into her own hands, literally, by writing a letter to the ticket office officials at Lambeau Field.
“She basically took the blame for the tickets not being delivered and Jeff and Josh took that letter with them to Green Bay. It wasn’t easy but they were eventually able to convince security to let them talk to someone higher up and they made it to their seats in time for the flyover,” Kathy Ingersoll said.
The extra efforts of Babcock, she said, deserved recognition.
“Karen went out of her way as a Postmaster and just a good citizen. When there’s so much bad, heart-wrenching news out there, I think she needs to be commended for what she did,” Kathy Ingersoll said. “Postal employees get a bad rap a lot of times but they’re so busy and this is a good example of one of them, right here in Elkhorn, going above and beyond to help someone out.”
Earlier this week, Jeff Ingersoll stopped by the Elkhorn Post Office to thank Babcock personally, with a hug and a gift.
“It meant a lot that you made sure we could get to that game and I wanted to stop by and thank you,” Jeff Ingersoll said.
Babcock, who was clearly surprised and touched by the gesture, said her reason for helping the Ingersoll family was simple.
“It was the Packers! I had to do whatever I could to make sure we got you there,” she said.
It’s likely Babcock would have gone above and beyond even if it wasn’t to help a father and son get to a Packers game, and the effort she put forth is something Jeff Ingersoll said he is very appreciative of.
“Everyone is so busy. Josh lives and works in Madison. That’s not too far but it’s far enough that I don’t get to see him as much as I’d like to,” he said. “Going to that game with him was special and we couldn’t have done it without Karen’s help.”
Green Bay defeated the New York Giants 38-13 that day, in the final home game of the season.
