by Max Marbut
Staff Writer
In addition to the thousands of visitors who come to the Gator Bowl each year for parties, special events and fun capped by a great college football game, hundreds of media members also call Jacksonville home for several days.
This week reporters, photographers and broadcast journalists from Kentucky and Virginia are joined by representatives of virtually every major news organization in the world to convey the Gator Bowl story.
For more than 20 years, Rande LeFevre and Joe Chimelewski have hosted the media in the hospitality suite at the media hotel, which is always a separate location from the official team hotels. With the help of other volunteers, they also handle credentials, press box seating and game-day information services.
“We provide a place where the media can feel comfortable and meet old friends. There is a great fellowship among sports reporters. We create a private club atmosphere,” said LeFevre. “A lot of these people see each other only once a year and it’s at the Gator Bowl. It has been a lot of fun to get to know them over the years.”
The Hyatt hosted the media this year and, despite lobby-wide construction, Chimelewski said everything has gone well.
“It brings value to the community,” said Chimelewski. “Being at the Hyatt this year has allowed us to show the visiting press what we have to offer downtown. It’s a great location for covering all the events as well as the game.”
The doors open at 9 a.m. and stay open until late in the evening. Media members drop in to pick up credentials and media guides, then stick around to relax for a while and have a snack and a beverage. This year, local restaurants have been bringing their specialties to the media hospitality suite, which gives the visiting reporters a chance to sample some of the things Jacksonville has to offer.
“We like to enhance the hospitality each year. It’s our way of letting the press know how much we appreciate them and what they do for us,” said LeFevre.