Orchard Park, N.Y. (WBEN) - "It's a communal atmosphere, and where else would you want to be than right here, right now, freezing our butts off a little bit?!"
In the hours after the snow stopped falling in Orchard Park, Bills fans from around Western New York and beyond helped chipped in to clear out snow from Highmark Stadium and the surrounding private lots around the stadium.
"I've been a Bills fan since the '80s, most of my life I've been a Bills fan. To be a part of this, to be able to help do this, it feels good," said Paul Orr from Hammondsport, in town to help shovel out the stadium with his son. "I know they're paying $20 an hour, but quite frankly, I didn't come for the money. I came to help. I came to be a part of the 'Mafia'. I'm a 'Bills Mafia' member and that's it, that's what we do."
When Bills fan Sam from Buffalo heard about the need for shovelers at Highmark Stadium, he said he did what he could to escape three-plus feet of snow to get to Orchard Park.
"I found a way out here, and we'll find a way back. I'll worry about that when I cross that bridge. I just wanted to get here," said Sam.
"You're trying to get the job done, and we only can do so much. But I'm sure we're gonna reach that point we're trying to get. We're not gonna let this weather bring us down and stop us. We're moving forward."
As for Orr, he said he drove about three hours from the Finger Lakes region just to help give the Bills the competitive advantage they needed come Sunday.
"[We want to help] get this game going, get the crowd in here to get some home field advantage. Without the crowd, we don't have as much of an advantage home field-wise. So let's get some crowd in here, and we've gotta move the snow to do it," Orr said.
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Meanwhile, out in the private lots surrounding the stadium, many lot owners were busy in the several hours leading up to kickoff to get parking spots ready to accommodate "Bills Mafia" heading to Monday afternoon's contest.
"It's been a little nerve racking, I think I've snowblowed about four times so far. I ended up having to pay a guy to come in with a loader and clear the heavy stuff out of the way," said lot owner Matt McCormick.
McCormick says it took him 2-3 hours each time to completely snowblow out his lot, and adds it took the loader around three hours Monday morning to clear the rest of the snow from his lot.
While the snow will limit his parking availability from 50 to about 30 cars, he says he still doesn't make out that bad given how Orchard Park has become the epicenter for the recent winter storms in the region.
"It definitely makes it difficult with the snow," McCormick said. "Luckily, this season actually hasn't been that bad with weather. But last year, we had a couple of times where we really had to move a lot of snow, and it is what it is. It's Buffalo, we love the weather."
For Joe Mogavero, he says he was out since 3 p.m. EST on Sunday, helping clear out neighbors' lots, and helping others around the region in West Seneca and South Buffalo.
"I've been going nuts, but it's the 'City of Good Neighbors', we've gotta help out just to make it happen," said Mogavero on Monday.
"I can't get away from the house without someone else asked me for help, so I've just gotta help out. The more the merrier, right? We've gotta get as many people here as we can."
As for Eric "The Hammer" Matwijow, owner of "Hammer's Lot" on Abbott Road, he was contemplating even opening his lot, given all the snow that fell in Orchard Park since Saturday. However, he just couldn't turn down his loyal customers and the members of "Bills Mafia" hoping to see the start of a Super Bowl run.
"It's just not all about the money, it's about the camaraderie and the customers that have supported me through the past. So I did think about it for a second, the amount of stress level was too much, but I had the snow cleared, brought a crew in. They got here about quarter-to-seven, most of the snow was taken care of, piled off to the sides. The guys did a beautiful job," Matwijow said.
Matwijow knows how lucky Western New York is to have a professional team like the Bills. He says games like Monday are a nice little diversion from events like the storm that hammered the region this past weekend.
"What we went through with the wind and stuff was crazy, but everybody survived, they listened. It was a good game plan by the government to make sure everybody's safe," Matwijow said. "Hopefully they have my seat cleaned out, though, at the stadium. If not, I'm going to call up public services here and say, 'What the heck's going on?!' But it's a beautiful day, sun's out. It makes it a little colder without the clouds, a little breeze, but overall, it's a good good time overall."
