A Coffee Lover’s VIP Adventure
Janet Pattavina Chalupa ‘80 never imagined that a casual scroll through her phone would lead to a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
It all started when she spotted the Scooter’s Coffee Frisco Bowl sweepstakes. Excited by the chance to win, Chalupa immediately texted her sister, Terri Grybko, encouraging her to sign up, too.
“She did it because she always listens to her big sister,” Chalupa teases.
Weeks later, on a Friday morning, Grybko was lying in bed when an email popped up in her inbox: she had won the sweepstakes.
Initially skeptical, she wondered if it was a scam, even going so far as to change her email password. But after a quick call to an acquaintance who owns a Scooter’s Coffee in Omaha, the news was confirmed: Grybko was indeed the lucky winner. Fast forward two weeks, and the sisters were on their way to Frisco, Texas, for the big game. Their VIP adventure included luggage, a hotel stay, the chance to meet Scooter’s Coffee employees (including the CEO), and a visit to the Dallas Cowboys practice stadium.
They even got to sit in a corner suite during the game. While the sisters leaned toward rooting for West Virginia since the team was staying in the same hotel as them, Chalupa joked that their true loyalty was to coffee. The experience was filled with special moments, from flipping the coin on the field to meeting people with unexpected connections, like a Scooter’s employee who had attended the same elementary school as the sisters.
For Chalupa, one of the highlights of the trip was sharing it with her CSM friends. She sent them a picture of her in her CSM jacket and said, “Hey ladies, I’m bringing a bit of you with me on this trip.” “From there on, my phone was blowing up with these gals — there’s about 5 of us,” Chalupa says. “They were being silly about us flipping the coin and what I should wear.
That bond from CSM is pretty cool.” After a trip packed with laughter and memories, the sisters headed home with full hearts. And the next time one of them owes the other a favor, their playful refrain will continue to be, “That’s OK — you just owe me Scooter’s.”
