Hudson Wisconsin Nightlife

April, 2013Archive for

Saturday, April 27th, 2013

You won’t have to go far to celebrate spring this Saturday, unless it’s joyriding.

– If you can’t go to the Sahara, have the Sahara come to you, courtesy of a spring break party right here in downtown Hudson. A pile of sand that’s usually almost a foot deep and extends to within a stride of the doorways has already on Saturday morning, April 27, been poured in the dance room in the middle of Dick’s Bar and Grill. In addition to the desert-size pile of sand to play in, a music group that’s anything but mediocre, the Average Janes, will entertain starting at 6 p.m. The music will continue with a deejay at 10 p.m. until close.

– It’s just a short trek, to Woody’s in Bayport, to participate in the most current installment of Bar Olympics. This could be seen as a perfect venue, as it is indeed a bowling alley, and in addition to knocking down pins, participants can compete for bragging rights in a number of other events requiring supreme athleticism, such as darts and beer pong. Pre-registration can be done at the bar, and the action gets going on Saturday at 2 p.m., with registration starting at 1:30. More locally, in Hudson, Dick’s has been a hub for occasional Bar Olympics games, organized by the some of the bartenders there. The most recent installment in Hudson was earlier in April.

– There are some fundraiser events with food and fun that can be taken in on Saturday, most notably a motorcycle poker run in central and eastern St. Croix County starting in the afternoon. Participants will trek around that area with stops at about a dozen taverns. They have much better weather today, with sunny skies and temperatures in the 70s, then was had for some other local rallies earlier in the month. For information and to ride in the event, stop in at L&M’s in Roberts, a sponsor that is one of the first stops on the rally agenda.

– Friday was the opening day for many local and area golf courses, as snow and the muck from it melting have finally alleviated and all golfers may have to negotiate is an occasional small snowbank. It should be noted that some high school golf teams in the area did get a trial run with Thursday meets, finally getting on the links after practicing in the gymnasium for weeks.

 

Posted in Picks of the Week | 12 Comments »

Here’s how to celebrate the return of spring, in case you’ve forgotten

Saturday, April 27th, 2013

Spring has finally sprung, and for a rundown on what to do to celebrate around the area, see the Picks of the Week department of this website. Then later this weekend, visit the home page of this site for a review of exactly what went down on both an action-packed Saturday and other events that were held late in April.

 

Posted in The Headliner | 4 Comments »

Saturday, April 20th, 2013

– It’s not just about the sport value of pro wrestling, it’s the comedic aspect, and it will be lived out at Meister’s Bar and Grill in Boardman on Saturday evening, April 20, via the skill set of athlete/comedians like Buck Rock and Roll Zumhofe. And yes, it helps that this is inexpensive entertainment.

Besides AWA master entertainer Zumhofe, there are five main matches with numerous grapplers. Tickets are expected to go fast, but there is still opportunity to buy them, at $10 for general admission and $15 at ringside, up close and personal for the antics. Doors open at 7:15 p.m., with wrestling at 8 p.m.

The people at Meister’s point out that this event is back by popular demand, and that numerous AWA professionals have graced the ring in Boardman.

 

Posted in Picks of the Week | 4 Comments »

Saturday, April 13th, 2013

– Dale Martell of the Zebra Mussels band, a longtime group of experienced and seasoned musicians, says those are the qualities that has made the local group  successful for so many years. The Mussels play at the Willow River Saloon on Saturday night, April 13. “We call it playing in the pocket,” getting into a groove and just going with the music, Martell said. Something that is a bit new for the band, for those who have not seen them for awhile, is that they now shift duties between three different lead singers. The Mussels play a lot of country, but also a range of other tunes.

 

Posted in Picks of the Week | Comments Off

Friday, April 5th, 2013

They’re still running, whether it be with music or for office:

– Perhaps one of the most impressive facets of the Still Runnin’ country and rock band, which will play at the Willow River Saloon on Saturday night, April 6, is its 64-song playlist, chock full of original choices. They include an auburn-haired songstress belting out tunes such as Call Me by Blondie, I will survive by Gloria Gaynor and Love Shack by the B-52s. They have a local connection with frequent visitor Tommy Tutone, as they play his classic Jenny (867-5309). And, Still Runnin’ will be back again at the Willow later in spring.
– Also, on Friday night, April 5, the Willow will change it up a bit with another band with local ties, The Ricks.
– The Guv is elected! That’s the nickname of bar owner Dan Thompson, who won a St. Joseph township supervisor post by a 451-372 vote over Jim Traeger, who he accused of being too much on the side of realtors and not listening enough to common people — you know, the kind of folk who patronize his tavern. A small poster, “thank’s St. Joe,” was placed on Wednesday on the back side of a larger campaign sign, positioned so people leaving Guv’s Place could see it from the door. Thompson said one of his strengths is being a business owner, and mingling with his customers to get the lay of the land, so to speak, but added on the day before the election that with the new post would come a lot of additional work. So, it would be a mixed blessing, but no matter the outcome, he wins, Thompson said. Suffice it to say that the Guv will have a little bit less time for shooting darts with his customers.

 

Posted in Picks of the Week | Comments Off

Friday, April 5th, 2013

Only a fool would pass up the chance to read the following column! Unless, of course, you think it’s all just an April Fools Day prank.

– On April Fool’s Day, a car on First Street got the treatment, not to a car wash but having dozens of cotton balls stuck to its hoods and doors. This caused the patrons of Dick’s Bar and Grill, when they were told, to wonder if it happened to be there’s that was thus pranked. I also wondered aloud what the cotton balls symbolized and was told — duh — that there had been a chance of snow. Chad behind the bar had an even better prank to tell, conducted by one of his former co-workers who now has an office job. The guy put up a sign on the copier that said the firmware had been changed and that its operation is now voice activated. You can imagine the laughs that brought; suffice it to say a lot of people were caught talking to the copier, and going on and on and on. This also prompted me to tell Chad that at my advanced age, sometimes my firmware has great trouble being activated. Chad’s other April Fool’s Day mention: A guy who lives near an inactive volcano, obviously not locally, hauled to the top of it a whole bunch of tires and set them on fire, causing a scene that really startled his neighbors. Lastly, a man was profiled on the television news for a prank with another kind of drink. He affixed a cup of coffee to his car roof and drove around all day, causing people including a cop to pull him over and alert him, assuming he’d forgotten it there.
– Two men were sitting at Green Mill and talking about crazily celebrating St. Patrick’s Day in St. Paul, particularly at Alary’s, the notorious former strip club that is now a Chicago Bears bar — yes, you read that right — and also is the unofficial law enforcement and firefighter bar of the Twin Cities. Oh, and did I mention that the female servers wear bikinis, causing Eddie Vetter of Pearl Jam to say it has the most beautiful women in the Cities, and to make it a point to stop in whenever he has an area concert. One of the men at Green Mill noted that he lives in the apartments near Alary’s, which does indeed have a Hudson connection. At least seven of the women who have worked there are from the Hudson area, and one of my longtime friends, Bree, went on to a successful modeling career. Also, it was a Hudson women and worker who took legal action after the Vulcans made one of their stops by and their leader on that trip allegedly sexually assaulted her.
– Green Mill had four featured Irish drinks around the St. Patrick’s Day holiday that all told were made with 12 different ingredients. Also, Hefty’s in Bayport had an Irish drink that had six different ingredients in one glass alone.
– Also on St. Patrick’s Day, many of the dozens of hats, traditional and otherwise, that were hung all over the ceiling at Guv’s Place in Houlton were distributed to prize winners — but the proprietor had to get on a ladder to do so. That was also needed to access the green themed T-shirts they sold out of. An example was the one that said “World’s tallest leprechaun.”
– Seen at Dick’s on that day was a man with a green vest, to go with ear studs that also had been colored green. And over at Ellie’s on Main, a woman sported a miniskirt that was accented by white stockings adorned with dozens of Irish insignias.
– During the championship college hockey tournament, which was being aired at Dick’s, the Minnesota Gophers played a team named the Beavers. Would that make this the Rodent Bowl, I asked the bartenders? The response: It could be worse, as far as not striking fear into the hearts of the opponent, as the other Oregon team is nicknamed the Ducks.

 

Posted in Notes from the Beat | Comments Off

Friday, April 5th, 2013

Hundreds celebrate the day the music died.
When the soon-to-be closed Dibbo’s nightclub held their final band night on Saturday, March 23, more than three times as many people as expected showed up to say farewell.
Manager Chuck McGee said earlier that week that he anticipated a crowd of about 200 partiers, maybe 300, to his venue that as radio advertisements have said for years was “rock solid in downtown Hudson.”
The number he got was at least 1,000.
The spacious back concert hall was shoulder to shoulder prior to the guest band for the evening, the original members of southern rock group Austin Healy, getting ready to take the stage. Patrons were lined up five deep all the way around the circular bar area, waving money to grab the attention of bartenders — whose numbers were bolstered when guests for the evening who used to serve at Dibbo’s were pulled in to help. The talk throughout the night by both attendees and people elsewhere in Hudson’s downtown, as word got around, was surprise at the sheer number of people who showed up. The cops took notice, too, and did at last one walk through, as the maximum number of people allowed in the bar at one time was being pushed.
In large part because of the frenetic activity, Austin Healy didn’t get onto the stage right away, and its members were seen trekking back and forth and socializing in the long hall between the equally packed front bar area and the concert section. A solo performer on acoustic guitar kept the crowd engaged.
There were rumors that other longtime bands that had often graced Dibbo’s stage would make cameo appearances, but they didn’t materialize. In particular was a much anticipated showing by the Wetspots, and a few years back the word on the street and in the concert hall was that if there were to be a reunion of the band, it would be at Dibbo’s.
After Austin Healy did go on, and after its first set, the number of patrons thinned somewhat — and in what was a boon that kept other downtown bars quite busy all night, the revelers roamed around to other establishments. However, new people kept coming in the door to pay their respects to Dibbo’s and Austin Healy, who after scores of engagements was playing Dibbo’s for the final time. The concert hall is being sold to be remade into a cafe in front, a banquet hall in back where bands have played for so many years, and office space upstairs where there currently are apartments.
Austin Healy started with spot-on instrumental, especially in the rhythm section, and only got stronger as the night went on. After they closed with Free Bird, which McGee had said was the perfectly fitting finale, the band members thanked McGee and Dibbo’s for giving them a chance back when they were still another fairly unknown country band. A longtime employee then came on stage to toast McGee and other longtime employees, some of whom came back into employment at Dibbo’s time and again.
A lot of people brought in their own beer, and even asked to be photographed with it, and this in the long run worked out just fine, as with the huge crowd the rations at Dibbo’s started running really low.
After a massive cleanup to this massive party in back, the current front bartenders have found things much slower as the days wind down to that final entrance-room step in the Dibbo’s closure process. First the beer taps had been shut down and removed, then most of the liquor bottles and glassware stowed away elsewhere, as in just a few days after the big party all of Dibbo’s would be just a memory.
Lana was back working behind the bar on those last days, with official closure taking place at the end of the month, and reprised her role of mixing art with advertising by using lots of multi-colored chalk on the sidewalk in front. Some of the messages, which have included quotes from the likes of Bob Marley, have covered 100 square feet.
Downtown Hudson had not seen the likes of this since over a decade ago, when a street artist placed well-drawn cartoon characters on the dike road in the dead of night. The big chalk figures drew the ire of some city officials, so considered them unwanted graffiti, but I thought they were pretty cool and profiled them in the local paper.

 

 

Posted in Blast From the Past | Comments Off

Recent Comments

Archives