SCENE
A Community Boost Youth-centered organization’s roots date back to the 1950s.
THE ANNUAL HUDSON BOOSTER DAYS celebration takes on many col-
ors, shapes and sounds. Years ago, the fireworks show (one of the most loved events) ended not with a traditional grand finale, but rather a firework shown in the shape of an American flag. “The flag in the sky meant the end of Booster Days,” says Booster Days committee member John Herick. Herick also recalls the homemade heavy cannons and the truckloads of gravel that were needed to fire off the fireworks. “When the shells went off, the whole dike shook,” says Herink. Now, fireworks are ignited electronically—and even more has changed since COVID-19. In 2020, the celebration was cancelled
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in its entirety due to COVID; in 2021, road construction halted its parade. Typically, Booster Days includes a carnival, live music, bingo, beer, hot-dogeating contests, a tractor pull, fishing contest, bags tournament and fireworks, sponsored by the City of Hudson. Its beginnings were less than what it is now. Hudson Boosters, originally incorporated as the SouthSide Boosters, has been going strong since July 16, 1954. However, knowing what happened 68 years ago is complicated. “If you hang around long enough, you became the historian,” says past Hudson Boosters president Randy Lau. Lau’s research centers around an old bag full of Boosters memorabilia passed
down from committee to committee. It includes a collection of Boosters buttons—the earliest of which dates back to 1952, the year the Hudson boys baseball program started and the year the city held the first Annual Hudson Picnic. Hudson Boosters firsts, according to Lau’s timeline, include ice car races (1955), an Easter egg hunt (1958), girls’ recreation program (1960), fireworks and a tug-o-war event (1962), snowmobile races (1966), a boat parade (1967), a water ski show (1969), a parade down Main Street (1970), boys and girls T-ball program (1976), girls’ softball recreation program (1984), girls’ traveling softball program (1995) … And, in 2001, all Booster Days activities moved from the
June/July 2022
stcroixvalleymag.com
iStock.com/fototobe; Hudson Boosters
By Daniel Huss
