Soon, come the end of May, a North Hudson man of the year will be selected by the principals at Kozy Korner — whether he wants to be or not. Just because he beat out 67 others, doesn’t mean he is going to pound his chest. There’s too much fun to be had.
The event, one part charitable event and another part good-natured humor that can be self-deprecating, will see a field of several dozen people, who may be brash or humble, gradually eliminated until a winner is named.
The low-key event, in its fifth year, is not just the brainchild of people at Kozy Korner, they say. The North Hudson man of the year doesn’t necessarily even have to be from North Hudson, although it helps. Contestants have also come from the city or town of Hudson or the area surrounding the village, and may even be from farther afield if they have the backing of local people.
The voting runs six weeks and helps charitable causes, and the winner will be selected during an evening number-crunching session at Kozy in the last weekend of the month, then announced the next day.
The total of 68 who would be man of the year are listed on brackets displayed inside Kozy Korner, mirroring the big posters seen during the NCAA basketball tournament, which airs on their TVs. Past winners were Kirk Nelson, Denny McGinley, Tom Boron and in a tie, Mike Hennessey and Tad Landry.
As far as this year, co-owner Ryan Nelson doesn’t want to jinx anyone, but when pushed said his inkling about a winner leans toward brother Kirk — again — or Bob Dabruzzi. Ryan said their father and one of his best friends once ended up head-to-head, which humor has it caused them to become mortal enemies. Husbands and wives are sometimes paired off against each other to produce comic effect.
In this just-for-fun event, contestants go head-to-head at Kozy each time around, and it costs $1 to vote. There is no limit on how many times you can cast your ballot, and since this is for charity, that’s all the better. Aaron Rodgers, the star Packer quarterback, was even nominated once, and he made it to the third round, Ryan said.
On one occasion, a number of members of the owning Nelson family all made it to the finals, which caused some people to jokingly suggest the contest was rigged.
Some people really get into it and want to win, while others don’t really care that much. There is no coronation, although the winners get to ride in a Pepperfest Parade float and a routine developed where they are the target of water balloons. There may be a plaque listing the winners put together at some point, although no one appears to be really pushing for that, and there have been jokes about procuring some Green Jackets, in Masters golfing style, Ryan said.
This year, the charitable recipients are North Hudson’s Todd Paulson, who has had a series of serious medical concerns stemming from a bad infection, and the Hudson backpack program. A total of $2,000 is expected to be raised.