Two UMaine grads to visit all 17 Pat's Pizza locations in 24 hours

There's a lot to love about Pat's Pizza.

"It makes you feel like you're at home. The hospitality's good and makes you feel comfortable," says Paul Fitzgerald, a regular customer from Millinocket.

"The pizza. And also have the best fish chowder anywhere on Friday," says Doris Cossette, a regular who has been coming to Pat's for more than 70 years.

"For people that grew up in this area, it's very nostalgic for them to come back because we don't change a lot. We try to get it the same," says Sherri Cunningham, a manager and Pat's granddaughter.

Sherri Cunnigham says trying to keep what her grandfather started here decades ago the same is important, from the sauce to what the pizza is cooked in.

"We use the same pans that my grandfather used."

It was the summer of 1931 that C.D. "Pat" Farnsworth opened up shop.

"He started it as an ice cream parlor and he sold ice creams and cigars and things like that, and then went to hamburgers. In the 1950s, he noticed the University was selling a lot of pizzas, so he sent my grandmother to actually to Portland to learn how to make pizzas. She came back and started making pizzas with him, and it kind of took off," says Cunningham.

To say the least. The joint has gotten countless UMaine students hooked over the years.

Like Matt Clark.

"We would go down to the tap room or delivery for the dorms. Double-dough, with pepperoni. That was our pizza back in the dorm," says Clark.

Clark graduated in 2000 and now as a Bangor resident, he comes back all the time with his own family.

"It's fun to take the kids and tell them the stories."

Same story with his brother-in-law, Matt, who lives in southern Maine. The two love Pat's so much, they're taking the ultimate challenge. They're attempting to hit every one of the 17 locations in 24 hours. It's a road-trip they've been talking about for five years now.

"Being in almost the entire state of Maine, or all the different parts of Maine will be exhausting, but it will be neat to be in Presque Isle, this area, southern Maine, all in one day."

"I think it's great. I'd like to see them do that," says Sherri.

She thinks it's a trip her grandfather would have loved.

"I think he's be happy with that, I really do. I'm sure."

Clark says while they certainly won't be going hungry this weekend, they're also raising money for the Good Shepherd Food Bank.

You can follow their journey on their PatStop24 Facebook page.