In the beginning there was Dibbo’s. Following suit has been Stone Tap, and also Swing Bridge and Cracked Barrel.
— Originally Dibbo’s rocked, then came Stone Tap, and now there may be condos. The public is invited, as an introduction, to get in touch with the condominium project being proposed for that whole building, through the age-old tour of a happy hour to be held there Thursday late afternoon and evening, Sept. 27. It could be mentioned that the developers who put in Stone Tap made a point of including century-old stone from the original building in their design, As another old Dibbo’s aside, I recently met a St. Paul cabbie and also a Lyft driver who were VERY familiar with the old rock club — perhaps TOO familiar. One was even in a rock band that played there decades ago.
— Beer and wine makers combine. Local Swinging Bridge beer products are featured at sampling benefit for a veteran’s care group.at the Cracked Barrel winery between Hudson and River Falls from 4-7 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 29.
— The Wild are not the only game in town. The Hudson Havoc semi-pro hockey team plays its home games here, at the hockey center in the south part of town. That fact was just seen popping up all over flyers and schedules, newly posted on various bulletin boards at bars in downtown Hudson. The forerunner to The Havoc were the Hudson Crusaders, who were a fixture at the arena for several years in the early 2000s. One thing that made these squads different is they are in a league that allows and tolerates fighting between players. So why not take in a potential on-ice fight, then go to Buffalo Wild Wings for UFC fights to wrap up your night?
— Speaking of BWW, you know all those full-page flyers, front and back, and not just a half-page, that go in the free Saturday circulars? They typically are for buy one and get half-price on another, or get $5 off when spending $25. Usually they are for fast food or convenience stores. But BWW has jumped into the fray by stuffing its flyer with bountiful wings offers, etc., so you maybe want to take the whole family after one of their local games, or round up all those guys who you said who’d call …
— My sister-in-law Anni from the North Metro often visits Hudson area venues and their festivals and stopped by the house last Saturday — only scant minutes after she had given a get-down-here phone call — and said there was cool music to be found at the local bandshell that was more intriguing than the norm and we should hightail it there. All were bands that had over years built a following and thusly a crowd. It was the Spirit of St. Croix and music festival, and the music acts playing were acoustic guitarist and singer Nikki Peper, the acclaimed bluegrass of Barley Johns with Brian Wicklund, For All Brazil, Good Time Willy, the hard picking country of Mark Stary, and Living Statue, which will also be putting on a display. Try to catch one or more of them in- concert next time around.