MINNEAPOLIS — They wanted a piece of the Super Bowl. Even if that piece involved standing on a Minneapolis street in single-digit temperatures.

“I’m excited to be where the action is,” said Pam Krahmer of North Mankato. “When there’s something this cool happening close to where you live, I like to be in it rather than watch it on the 10 o’clock news.”

“Cool” was the key word during Krahmer’s first two days as a volunteer with Crew 52, the legions of goodwill ambassadors scattered throughout the Twin Cities for Super Bowl 52. Krahmer’s assignments on Monday and Tuesday involved standing on the outdoor Nicollet Mall in downtown Minneapolis for four hours in temperatures that ranged from the teens to the 20s.

“Frigid” is the forecast for her shift Saturday night, when the low is predicted to drop below zero.

“It was great,” she said of the first two stints giving directions, taking photos of visitors to “Super Bowl Live,” offering friendly smiles. “Everybody’s there just to have a good time.”

“Super Bowl Live” is an eight-block mob of people watching Nordic skiers compete on a snow-covered structure in the middle of the Nicollet Mall, listening to live bands on an outdoor stage, renting skates for a glide around a rink beside Orchestra Hall, eating and drinking everything in sight.

Krahmer will be joined by some fellow southern-Minnnesotans on Saturday night, thanks to Michael Thursby, the director of sports bands at Minnesota State University.

“It was some luck and an email,” Thursby said of the circumstances that resulted in the Maverick Machine pep band playing on Super Bowl Eve.

A year ago, Thursby contacted the Super Bowl Host Committee offering the services of his MSU musicians.

“I sent an email just wondering what was possible. Didn’t hear anything back,” Thursby said.

That changed this winter when Super Bowl Live organizers wondered if MSU could supply a drum corps.

“I proposed the idea of a pep band to bring a little excitement to the event, and it just kind of went from there,” he said.

In February, the Maverick Machine typically plays in the cozy indoor environment of Verizon Center for hockey games and Bresnan Arena for basketball. Saturday night, there’s a chance of snow and temperatures dropping to -5. Nonetheless, Thursby had no shortage of interested players for the 30 spots available in the consolidated pep band.

“This is actually kind of a select group of the 80 members,” he said, saying they were chosen by seniority and instrumentation.

The band will be roaming the Nicollet Mall, playing 15-minute sets followed by some indoor time to for each performer to warm up his or her fingers, lips and brass.

“Hopefully none of the instruments freeze,” Thursby said.

But playing in the cold fits with the theme of the Minnesota Super Bowl.

“That’s kind of the fun of it,” he said. “It’s the Super Bowl and the Bold North, and no matter the circumstances, I think the students are really going to be excited about it.”

Ally Grabianowski, 14, found her route to the Super Bowl through the kitchen and she was clearly thrilled on Wednesday afternoon.

“I got to meet Everson Griffen and David Morgan from the Vikings,” said Grabianowski, one of 10 finalists in the Super Snack Challenge at Target Center.

Morgan and Griffen were sampling the creations of the kids who made the final cut out of 52 initial winners after a November contest judged by chefs and celebrities.

“He liked it,” Grabianowski said of the reaction of Morgan, a 260-pound tight end, to her peppers stuffed with black beans, cheese and more. “He ate it all in one bite.”

Griffen, distracted by autograph-seekers as he chewed his stuffed pepper, also gave it a thumbs up.

“This is good,” Griffen said. “To be honest with you, the best one might be the sweet potato-broccoli.”

Griffen turned out to be right when the creation of a 10-year-old Minneapolis boy won the competition and the opportunity to give $25,000 to a charity of his choice. Still, Grabianowski was far from disappointed to be hanging out with Griffen and Morgan, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, and Sven Sungard, the KARE 11 weather guy, rather than spending another day in classes at Mankato West High School.

And when the event was complete, Grabianowski and her family were planning to join the throngs standing outside in the cold.

“We’re going to go to Super Bowl Live and possibly the Super Bowl Experience later,” she said.

The ultimate Super Bowl experience doesn’t come until Sunday inside U.S. Bank Stadium. Krahmer, the Crew 52 volunteer, will be there as well. She’ll even by on the field, although she won’t see a single play.

Krahmer, 52, spotted a notice on KARE 11 seeking volunteers for the half-time show and immediately signed up. She’ll be one of the people rushing to set up and tear down the typically elaborate set used in the Super Bowl musical extravaganzas.

The first task, though, for half-time volunteers is to sign a non-disclosure contract. Krahmer has been rehearsing throughout the week, so she’s got a pretty good idea of any surprises in store for the more than 100 million viewers who will be watching.

“You can ask, but I can’t tell you anything,” she said.

Well, one thing … . The volunteers won’t get to see a minute of the game itself, shuttling in and out from an off-site staging area.

Not all of the locals looking to be a part of the Super Bowl will be on the periphery of Sunday’s game. Jack and Megan Zimmerman of rural Cleveland will be in the stadium in prime seats, free of charge.

They even got their invite from NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell via a video-conference earlier in January.

Jack Zimmerman, an Afghan war vet who lost both legs to an improvised explosive device and was also wounded in both arms, was with his wife when the call came.

“We want to see if you guys were available because we’d like you to come and be guests of the NFL,” Goodell told them.

“Are you serious?” Zimmerman said. “That’s so cool.”

And although the couple had invited friends over for a Super Bowl party, they indicated that their friends could find other plans.

“I think we’ll be free,” Megan Zimmerman told Goodell.

Mark Fischenich is a reporter for The Free Press, of Mankato, Minn.