Mt. Laurel raises $5K to send bus driver to the Super Bowl

MOUNT LAUREL  — As the hype around the Super Bowl cranks up one lifelong fan will get to go to the Big Game on Sunday.

Parents and students in Mount Laurel raised nearly $5,000 in five days via a GoFundMe page to send bus driver Gary Kelmer and his wife to Minneapolis complete with tickets, hotel and custom jerseys

"We are so blessed to have such a wonderful bus driver ... one who gets our kids safely, plays the 'coolest music' according to my kids, hands out Air Heads on Fridays, and lets my crazy 4-year-old on the bus to talk on the speaker," parent Amy Smith wrote on the page. She said that Kelmer was "literally crying out of excitement" the morning after the Eagles topped the Minnesota Vikings to win the NFC championship.

A stunned Kelmer on Monday called it a "special dream come true" and exclaimed "I'm ecstatic" as he was presented with his trip on Monday afternoon at his last stop,

Kelmer said his father took him to Philadelphia's Franklin Field for the 1960 championship game when the Eagles beat Vince Lombardi's Green Bay Packers, 17-13. It was Lombardi's only career post-season loss.

Not everyone in South Jersey is rooting for the Eagles to top the Patriots in Sunday's game. Collingswood Mayor James Maley posted a letter on the borough Facebook page sent in jest to some Patriots fans flying their "eyesore"  team flag deep in Eagles country

Meanwhile, the Patriots have a fan in Massachusetts native Gov. Phil Murphy who told NJ.com, "Let there be no doubt: I have grown up and I remain today a Patriots fan."

The governor is also close friends with Jon Bon Jovi who in turn is tight with Patriots owner Bob Kraft. The Jersey rocker was on the sidelines of Foxboro Stadium during the Patriots win over Jacksonville to earn a trip to the Super Bowl.

Material from the Associated Press was used in this report

Contact reporter Dan Alexander at Dan.Alexander@townsquaremedia.com or via Twitter @DanAlexanderNJ