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‘Olivia did it!’

Reinhardt’s engineering work at Highmark Stadium makes her want to ‘Shout’

It's been 40 years, but I remember the call as if I took it yesterday.

On the line that evening in June 1986 was Ron Graham, the co-founder of the Chautauqua Striders, who had stopped at a roadside phone booth while traveling with some of his track & field athletes.

He desperately wanted to know how one of the club's alums -- Karen Bakewell -- had performed in the 800-meter final at the NCAA Division I Championships in Indianapolis. When my office phone rang -- remember, this was two decades before the Smartphone debuted and "breaking news" was not immediately available -- I informed him that she had won the race.

Graham was so moved that he couldn't initially utter a word in response.

Decades later, I can only imagine how he would have reacted had he been alive to join his daughter, Tamu Reinhardt; her husband, David; and their daughter, Olivia, for a recent visit to Orchard Park. Because when the family found the glass wall that featured the words, "We Built This House," near the 27-foot-tall bison statues outside the brand-new Highmark Stadium, three pairs of eyes got a little misty.

Grandpa Ron, no doubt, would have made it four sets.

"My parents and my grandpa (have always) been the most supportive," Olivia said earlier this week, "so to see it pay off and be able for me to do anything with the stadium was an opportunity of a lifetime."

And the best news is that Olivia's contribution to the edifice on Abbott Road will hang prominently near the club level forever.

"We call it the 'money shot,'" she said. "That's where we want people to stand and take photos."

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Olivia, who turned 27 on Wednesday, is a structural engineer for Buffalo-based Encorus Group. The 2017 Jamestown High School graduate and 2021 graduate of the University at Buffalo is also a huge Buffalo Bills fan. In fact, she and her father have been season-ticket holders for a half-dozen years. They will continue that tradition this fall, beginning two weeks from now at the first regular-season game at the state-of-the-art stadium.

The Reinhardts hope that their trips to the Bills' new $2.2 billion "home" will include plenty of opportunities to belt out the team's "Shout Song," which is played anytime the team finds the end zone or kicks a successful field goal.

But that traditional game-day experience will carry some extra meaning for the family beyond what happens on the field, because Olivia is one of the more than 5,000 people who had a hand in Highmark's construction.

To honor those folks, team owner Terry Pegula had the names of every worker displayed alphabetically on that glass wall mentioned above. So before the Reinhardts found their seats at a preseason game against the Pittsburgh Steelers last month, Olivia said she "made a beeline for the 'R's.'"

Upon finding her name, she looked at her father and the collective "waterworks" began.

"Olivia Reinhardt did something big ... real big!" David wrote recently on his Facebook wall. "She designed a circular sound wave of the 'Shout Song.' The structure hangs over escalators leading fans to the 716 Club."

"The artists had the idea," David added earlier this week, "that this is what they wanted to do and they had to find someone who would make it for them."

Enter Olivia and Encorus Group.

With the structure made of aluminum pipe, the crew had to not only figure out how to assemble it, but they also had the task of figuring out how to get it on a truck and, ultimately, into the stadium.

"We worked closely with Hohl Industrial Services," Olivia said. "The artists looked to them first. (Hohl) was just the installer. They needed someone to put this thing to life. They gave us a recommendation. ... When it was brought up, I said, 'How do we get to do this? This is a once-in-a-lifetime thing.'"

Olivia continued: "It was like building a LEGO set where you also have to build the pieces and make the instructions."

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Taking in the "Shout Song Wave" is not only visible from inside the stadium, but fans can also see it through a window as they drive on, or walk along, Abbott Road. It's just one of many artistic touches the Pegulas wanted to incorporate into Highmark.

Olivia, who started working on the project in November 2025, still can't wipe the smile off her face closing in on a year later.

"Between my dad (and his work for many years with Chautauqua Striders), and my mother giving back and my grandfather giving back, I realized how important it is to do something in your community," said Olivia, who lives in North Buffalo. "Having people see it is what I've always wanted. I work on stuff here and there, but as soon as I could build something that everyone could see, I could say, 'Olivia did it.'"