Nobody pours it on like beer vendor Tom 'Conehead' Girot at Rochester and Buffalo games

• Famed beer man Tom Girot has sold 1.5 million beers and worked nearly 7,000 games

Within seconds of walking through the front gates at Frontier Field, Tom Girot was being greeted by one familiar face after the other.

One of his friends wore a T-shirt that read: “Some people march to a different drummer.’’

Kindred spirits? Bet your Genny Light.

A short time later, his bin loaded with beer, popcorn and Cracker Jack, Girot exited the vendor’s room alongside the first baseline in full costume/uniform: A Rochester Red Wings jersey with No. 88 on the back representing the year he began working Red Wings games, black pants, and a rubbery pointed headdress with big ears affixed on his head.

His name is Tom Girot.

But to generations of western New York sports fans and concert-goers, the Buffalo resident is best known as “Conehead,’’ the guy who has served up plenty of beer and plenty of laughs over nearly five decades.

If there were a Hall of Fame for beer vendors, Girot would be a first-ballot inductee. He's the Cal Ripken Jr. of suds salesman. A person who always brews up a good time.

“I enjoyed it from the very first night,’’ said Girot, who sold his first bag of peanuts at an exhibition basketball game between the Buffalo Braves and Virginia Squires at the Buffalo Aud in September 1972.

Now a very youthful 63, Girot outlived those teams and that building.

He has worked Buffalo Bills football games and Rochester Americans hockey games, and remains a regular at Buffalo Sabres games (2018-19 will be his 47th season), as well as Red Wings and Buffalo Bisons baseball games.

Despite suffering a stroke and undergoing heart surgery in 2015, he has no plans to retire his tray and buttons proclaiming “Rohrbach beer, $7.75’’ and “Cracker Jack $3.75.’’ And that makes a lot of people happy.

“A lot of my buddies were doing it at the time. The Sabres were relatively new, it was hard to get a job at 16, they were hiring and plus I got into the games for free,’’ said Girot, explaining his motivation for lugging drinks and snacks up and down steep aisles. “That was a big factor at that point in time, getting in for free. But I quickly discovered you don’t make any money if you’re watching the game.’’

This has been another milestone summer for Conehead, who hit 40 seasons of vending at Bisons games after hitting 30 seasons at Red Wings games in 2017.

The Bisons unveiled a beer in his honor, Conehead IPA, brewed in partnership with Buffalo’s Resurgence Brewing Co. A “Conehead Appreciation Day’’ was held July 6 with his image on a Koozie giveaway.

Conehead is also an avid “hophead’’ and had input crafting his namesake beer. In the past, he’s even had a bobblehead doll in his honor.

Along the way, he has made friends, too many to count.

Each season, he throws a year-end party at a Buffalo bar as his way of saying “thanks’’ to his best customers. It’s not uncommon for him to show up at a fan’s funeral to comfort the family. Or give away Bisons and Sabres tickets for charitable causes.

Just laying eyes on Conehead can make a fan's joy meter rise like the head on a beer. What’s it all mean?

“It means I’ve been touching people’s lives for a long time,’’ said Girot, whose daytime job is managing 15 apartment buildings he owns. “As time goes by, especially at my 40th celebration this year, the people who came out and wished me well and congratulated me, it was just amazing. … You don’t realize it, but people really do like me.’’

There’s a lot to like.

The affable Girot is quick with a pour as well as a one-liner.

Conehead is exceptional at what he does, moving with alien-like swiftness as he covers more stadium ground than a shortstop.

He’s a magnet for children who can’t resist the guy with the bushy mustache and pointy head.

“He’s like having another mascot,’’ Red Wings president and CEO Naomi Silver said. “Unlike most vendors, he’s someone people relate to and they look for. You can’t make up a character like that, he’s a natural.’’

“He’s part of the ambiance of coming to a Red Wings game, especially if you want a cold one,’’ said season ticket holder Tony Wells, executive director of the Hot Stove League charity luncheon.

“He’s the hardest-working guy in the park,’’ Wells added.  “Whether it’s the first inning or last, he’s always got a smile on his face, an even temperament and he’s fantastic dealing with the kids. They see a guy coming with a conehead and they got the bug eyes. They buy cotton candy, peanuts; he makes them count their change. He’s wonderful.’’

Or, as Frontier Field food and beverage general manager Jeff Dodge described Girot, “He’s an institution.’’

Quipped Conehead: “Most people say I belong in one.’’

Brewing up a legend

Girot became Conehead in 1977 as the result of his penchant for frugality.

That Halloween, his wife, Nancy, and her fellow hairdressers dressed up as Coneheads from the popular Saturday Night Live sketch featuring Dan Aykroyd and Jane Curtin. They even got on the TV news.

Not wanting his wife’s cone to go to waste, Girot wore it at the next Bills game he worked. Voila, a legend was born.

“She spent $20 on this stupid head piece and I thought ‘What a waste of money, I gotta get some use out of this,’ ‘’ Girot said. “It made me stick out, obviously, then over the years I came up with the ‘Conehead Guarantee’ and the rest, as they say, is history.’’

Conehead Guarantee? As Girot likes to yell, “If you get a warm beer from me, you drink it for free.’’

Some other fun facts:

• He and his wife named their daughters Jacqueline and Jillian. Yes, Jack and Jill. His wife and daughters have also worked as vendors, making it a Girot family tradition.
• He works 180 to 200 events a year depending on concerts and playoff games. In 47 years, that comes to roughly 7,000 games and 1.5 million beers sold.
• His bin holds approximately two cases of beer, along with water, peanuts, popcorn, Cracker Jack and sunflower seeds and weighs 65 to 70 pounds. His No. 1 seller at Red Wings games is Genny Light and he congratulates customers “for supporting the local guys.’’
• When checking IDs, he pulls out a giant magnifying glass. While it elicits a laugh at his age, he needs the magnification because his reading glasses won’t fit over his conehead ears.
• He orders his coneheads through a Buffalo company and goes through an average of three a year. “The sweat just kills them,’’ he explained.

Like a mascot suit, the cone is hot and uncomfortable but oh so worth wearing. A marketing home run when it comes to generating sales and generating memories.

There is just something utterly fun and silly consuming food and beverages associated with a good time that have been served by a guy wearing a conehead. 

Those human connections that make Girot’s job so unique and rewarding are enhanced by the power of the cone.

“Especially baseball because it’s such a family atmosphere,’’ he said. “I always say that anybody who goes to a baseball game regardless of the score generally leaves having had a good time. They didn’t spend $500 like it’s a Sabres games. The Red Wings could lose 7-0 but if they had a couple beers, a bag of peanuts, Conehead made you laugh, you had a good time.’’

Like golf caddies, stadium vendors are a dwindling breed.

At one time, a dozen vendors could be seen and heard at old Silver Stadium. Today at Frontier Field, Dodge is lucky to recruit two per game.

The reasons are many.

Topping the list is that it’s a physically demanding job. Vendors are independent contractors who earn 15 percent commission on total sales, or minimum wage if that’s greater.

Cutting into the vendor’s value is a concessions operation that keeps getting more efficient and more varied.

“With greater efficiency of the operation people don’t wait in line as long and people want to experience all the variety at the stadium that they can’t get in the stands,’’ Dodge said.

Because of his own efficiency and showmanship, Girot is keeping tradition alive one pull tab at a time. He can earn about $150 a game on a good night, Dodge estimated.

The key to his success? Hustle and sensing when a customer is thirsty again. Call it Conehead radar.

“That’s experience,’’ said Girot, who at one time teamed with fellow iconic beer man “The Earl of Bud’’ Howze Jr., to sell more beer at Coca-Cola Field than all other vendors combined. “You really have to know when people are ready for their next beer, and the bigger the crowd, the harder it is to do. Sometimes my most enjoyable days are in April, because I get to talk to people more.’’

During a recent game between the Red Wings and Bisons to start Rochester’s final homestand of the season, Girot greeted regulars with fist bumps and took a moment to talk.

He’s so trustworthy, people will buy a beer for a friend sitting in another section, knowing Girot will deliver the goods, telling the appreciative recipient “I have a special talent to get someone else to buy the beer.’’

After autographing a photo of himself for a teenager, Girot asked him “How old are you?’’

“Sixteen,’’ came the response.

“See you in five years,’’ said Girot before setting off down the aisle in search of more sales.

When a customer rolled his eyes at the beer prices, he barked, “I said cold, not cheap.’’

Girot encourages any young person who wants to work hard, earn some money and learn life skills like making change and making conversation to give vending a try. It will require setting aside the cellphone for a few hours.

 “It’ll probably be the hardest work you’ll ever do and hopefully you’ll develop enough sense to get to school,’’ he said with that famous Conehead grin.

It’s a job with some danger.

Girot has tripped and fallen. He’s been hit with plenty of foul balls. He’s never been seriously injured, but an errant lacrosse ball at a Buffalo Bandits game left a nice mark on his shoulder.

“I was pouring a beer at the time, but I didn’t spill it,’’ he said proudly. “I’ve never dropped one on a customer. That’s unusual because you’re always getting bumped. That’s just dumb luck, I guess.’’

Or skill. With a cup and wad of cash in one hand, can in another, Conehead makes the art of the pour look easy.

Life points upward

Many of his regulars feared Conehead’s vending days were over when he suffered a stroke three years ago and was diagnosed with PFO (patent foramen ovale), a condition where a hole in the heart doesn’t close all the way after birth. He needed surgery but missed just three Sabres games.

Forty-five years of vending, in fact, may have saved his life.

“Every doctor I went to after my stroke said the only thing that kept me from permanent damage was being in great physical shape,’’ Girot said.

He’s now on a blood thinner and had to give up playing beer league hockey.

“And I’ve developed a whole new respect for my utility knife,’’ the avid handyman said.

He never doubted that he would be back vending. Not serving customers, but rather hanging out with his friends on warm summer nights. And he didn't have to buy a ticket.

“I will tell you, the younger guys can’t keep up with him,’’ said John Butterworth, the retired Penfield High soccer coach and a longtime Red Wings season ticket holder who proudly calls himself one of Conehead’s better customers. “It’s 90 degrees out here now and he’s roaming the whole stadium. He’s just an amazing person.’’

Who is maybe a tad — OK, not a tad — crazy.

Girot loves vending so much, he’s done personal “double-headers,’’ working a Bisons game during the day and a Red Wings game at night.

As a student of human nature, he said Rochester fans view the Red Wings as “our team’’ while Buffalo fans look at the Bisons as a form of entertainment.

“I get it,’’ Girot said. “Buffalo has the Bills and Sabres. The Bisons are looked at as only ‘minor’ league. But the fact of the matter is these guys throw 92 mph, they hit the ball 400 feet, every night you’re going to see great defense and you can get into the ball park for less than $15. Try doing that in the Major Leagues.’’

He grew up in the Riverside section of Buffalo, a graduate of Riverside High, the product of a challenging home life. He has three stepsisters, one stepbrother, three half-sisters, one half-brother.

“My mom was married seven times; I’ve been married 41 years,’’ Girot said. “I learned basically how not to live. People who have tough upbringings go one of two ways: fall in the same pattern or rise above. I honestly feel I rose above.’’

Like the head on a cold Conehead IPA.

With a front-row seat to a half-century of western New York sports, Girot has seen many changes. Free agency ruined loyalty. Stricter DWI laws changed people’s drinking habits.

Like a bartender, it’s the vendor's responsibility to stop serving customers he feels have had enough.

“That’s what has really changed over the years,’’ Girot said.  “At the end of Sabres games I used to yell, ‘Who needs one for the ditch?’ If I said that today, boy, you’d have Cellino and Barnes all over your case.’’

A fan at heart, Girot looks forward to the day when a Stanley Cup or Super Bowl parade can be held in downtown Buffalo.

 “I will say this about Buffalo fans, they are super passionate and back their teams,’’ he said. “I feel so bad that in 47 years I haven’t been able to go to a major league championship parade.’’

If it happens, Tom Girot wants to be walking through the crowd yelling, “Cold beer here. Get your popcorn. Peanuts.''

 But the heck with that. Conehead deserves his own float.

LROTH@Gannett.com

A beer man’s view

 Tom Girot, 63, has been a beer vendor for 47 years, giving him a front — and back row — seat to western New York sporting events for nearly half a century.

 His most memorable game? Easy.

 Game 6 of the Buffalo Sabres opening round Stanley Cup playoff series against the Montreal Canadiens in 1972-73, his first year on the job.

 “The Sabres lost the game (4-2) but it was the ‘Thank you Sabres’ night,’’ said Girot, recalling how fans chanted their appreciation to their young team that had battled back from an 0-3 deficit in games to win two in a row and force a home game back at The Aud. “How awesome was that? My best Buffalo sports memory by far. It showed how much fans would appreciate things if we ever did win a Stanley Cup.’’

 Girot’s most memorable Buffalo athletes? That’s easy, too.

 Bills running back O.J Simpson, Bills defensive end Bruce Smith, Sabres goalie Dominik Hasek and Bills quarterback Jim Kelly.

 “The four greatest I’ve seen are O.J. in his prime, Bruce Smith for his dominance, Hasek, the best I’ve seen at his position, and as a lifetime achievement award, it has to be Jim Kelly,’’ Girot said.

 “He fell in love with Buffalo as most people will do and remember he had a checkered past with women. He wasn’t the most mature guy in the world. But boy, the way his life changed, his perspective on things, and all the good he’s done for people. My God, the respect I have for him, and the fight he’s shown (through cancer). He symbolizes what western New York is all about.’’