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COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO. -- There were certainly hundreds of Super Bowl parties across southern Colorado Sunday, but perhaps the biggest of them all was at the Fox and Hound Pub and Grille in Colorado Springs.

Believe it or not, there are at least 300 Patriots fans in the Pikes Peak Region. They call themselves the Pikes Peak Pats, and nearly all of the members gathered at the restaurant Sunday afternoon to cheer on Tom Brady and the gang.

Members of the local club get together for every Patriots game, raffle off Patriots gear and simply enjoy being surrounded by other New England fans. Yet beyond being die-hard Patriots fans, the Pikes Peak Pats are patriots themselves.

"Two thirds of our members are in the military," Anne Stone, president of the Pikes Peak Pats, said. "We have a lot of them that are in Afghanistan right now."

The Pikes Peak Pats started as an idea written on a napkin back in 2006 when a number of Patriots fans in Colorado Springs decided there had to be a place they could enjoy the games together. The club founders partnered with Fox and Hound Pub and Grille and have been celebrating Patriots wins and consoling with one another after losses there ever since.

"A lot of us grew up in New England and were transplanted here for various reasons, whether it is military, jobs or whatever," Bill Marcella, a new Pikes Peak Pat member, said. "We've always been fans. To get together like this is exciting."

Between Fort Carson, the Air Force Academy, Schriever Air Force Base and Peterson Air Force Base, several people from New England now live in Colorado. Members of the Pikes Peak Pats said having the local club gives fellow New Englanders a place to come together and feel like they are back home.

"They're like family to me," Cody Newmann, co-founder of Pikes Peak Pats, said. "It's great to be around the people that you love."

The family of Patriots fans also huddle together to give back to the community.

"We do Toys for Tots in December," Stone said. "We raised more than $500 then. We also do cans for Care and Share in November and raffled off a Brady jersey, raising $400."

Before the New England Patriots took on the Denver Broncos in December, Stone said the Pikes Peak Pats sponsored six Wounded Warriors, raising enough money to get them tickets for the game.

"None of them had ever been to an NFL game before," she said. "They all got to meet Bob Kraft. It was all done through the donations and generosity of our members."

Marcella attributed the Pikes Peak Pats generosity to the simplicity of the New England hospitality. Members said that makes them feel right at home.

"Getting together like this," Stone said, "it's the one place where they can come and no one makes fun of their accent."