We are the original Bills Backers of Virginia Beach!
What started out 19 years ago by Scott and Ed and a small group of people sitting
at Awful Arthur's bar watching the Buffalo Bills on a small TV,
wondering what they could do to make it possible to actually watch a game other than the Redskins
has grown into something I don't think
anyone could have expected.
We have gone from that small group of about 10-15 fans there,
to the 100+ fans we now have.
And our main idea was to be able to watch a Buffalo Bills football
game!
We have been at Smokies on Harpers Road for over 9 years now, and it all started there with Okie telling
us "You bring in the numbers, and we'll do things" (and he's a Washington Redskins fan!)
He has always been one of our biggest supporters, and a big reason we have grown
to where we are today.
At first he
gave us a corner of the bar to decorate anyway we wanted, and then helped us buy a big screen projector.
And when we outgrew that spot, he built us or own room in
back of the bar.
It holds about 60
people, has its own bar, AC and heat.
And is decorated from top to bottom with almost anything Buffalo
Bills you could think of.
Maybe we do go overboard sometimes, but I think everyone has a
good time.
They keep coming back for more!
We watch the games on a 10' screen now, and have a rule that states we have to play the
Shout song every time a score change happens for the Bills.
But what I am most proud of is the
way this club has grown into an organization of people willing to help others.
We have in our bylaws that at least 51% of the money we raise has to go to directly
to charity.
And with that idea, we have
raised over roughly $40,000.00 for different charities in this area.
But toward the end of 2009 Okie decided that it was time for him to begin enjoying the fruits
of his years of hard work and look at retirement,
and he decided to sell Smokies.
Which left us wondering about the future of our club?
We will always appreciate all the support and help we received from Okie and wish him the best with his retirement.
Fortunately for us we found out that in
March of 2010 it was purchased by John Papakostas (From Chicago!)
who saw our club as an integral piece of Smokies restaurant and wanted to meet with us,
We explained what our club was about and offered to help him the
same as we have with Okie,
and he has
continued to show us tremendous support with all our efforts.
He has several improvements planned for our room, and is even joined us for the 2011 Polar
Plunge.
I want to thank John for all he
is doing for us during this difficult transition period.
When you stop in for the next game or just for a drink and dinner, take a moment and thank him yourself!
Where would you want to be
for your next Buffalo Bills game when you can't get to Buffalo other than Smokies!
GO
BILLS!
