All Liberian immigrant Mansfield Neblett wanted to do was wear his Cheesehead hat to President Barack Obama's speech Wednesday at his daughter's middle school.

The first roadblock came from Secret Service agents, who told him the bright yellow hat in the shape of a slice of cheese usually worn by Green Bay Packers fans was a security risk.

"I said, 'Then I'm not going to come,' " the 46-year-old Neblett said.

The agents relented, and there Neblett was in the last row of the gymnasium at Wright Middle School proudly wearing the hat. He was the only one with the cheesy chapeau, which stood out even more against his dark blue business suit.

But Neblett's dream of wearing the hat during Obama's speech wasn't meant to be.

Minutes before the speech, someone representing Obama approached Neblett and offered to get the hat signed by the president. Neblett gladly turned it over.

"I'm going to sell it on eBay!" he said with a smile.

Trouble is, the speech wrapped up, Obama left the building, and Neblett still didn't have his hat back. He stood in the school hallway as dignitaries and others filed by, searching in vain for someone to hunt it down.

Happily, the yellow wedge eventually made its way back to Treblett, bearing the president's signature.

Neblett said he wore the spongy headgear to show his love for the Dairy State.

"Wisconsin has been nice to me since I came here," he said. "I rose from being illegal to becoming an American citizen."

State Journal reporter Dee J. Hall contributed to this report.

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