Day Trip Destinations

By Nell Musolf

There’s plenty to do in Hudson, WI, just across the St. Croix River.

Winter in Hudson

Absorb history and the season in this Wisconsin hamlet

Have you ever wondered where the first Little Free Library was created? Wonder no more.

The first tiny library happened in Hudson, Wisconsin, and was the brainchild of Todd Bol as a tribute to his book-loving mother. His idea spawned dollhouse-size libraries around the world. In addition to Little Free Libraries, Hudson is a town filled with attractions and because it is easily within driving distance from Mankato, makes an ideal winter day trip.

Hudson is a smaller city (population about 12,000) perched on the westernmost edge of Wisconsin, and is a mere 20 miles from downtown St. Paul. Hudson is on the St. Croix River and was settled in 1840 as a logging center. Although logging is now a thing of the past, Hudson has retained much of its old-fashioned charm while becoming a thriving 21st century city.

In December, Hudson hosts several holiday events including a candlelight stroll that travels through the town’s historic downtown district complete with carriage rides. The Candlelight Stroll is 6-9 p.m. Dec. 3. a Hudson Holiday during December. Businesses have a holiday-themed window-decorating contest, holiday lights downtown and in Lakefront Park are turned on for the season, and shoppers are invited to Plaid Friday, where wearing plaid is encouraged while shoppers find holiday gifts in local stores.

Some of the stores downtown include Abigail Page Antique Mall, Back Room Vintage, and Chapter 2 Books. Seasons on St. Croix Gallery has pottery, jewelry and artwork from 130 artists. The 715 features “urban rustic goods” and Iris Boutique features fashionable, trendy clothing.

The Octagon Museum House, an eight-sided house turned into a museum, has tours on weekends this month. The museum’s gift shop is also open during those times for holiday shoppers.

If you are more interested in being out in the great outdoors instead of getting your holiday shopping done, the area offers plenty of places to visit. Hudson has numerous city parks, several county parks and one state park. Orf Family Overlook is a 15-acre county park with a scenic overlook, hiking trails, fishing and, for winter guests, snowshoeing, ice fishing and

cross-country skiing trails.

Snowmobilers will enjoy 216 miles of trails maintained by St. Croix County. The family-friendly Badlands Sno Park was created for groups of all sizes and ages that are into snow tubing. With bunny hills for beginners, the “Monkey Tail” for intermediates and the “Big Hill” for the most intrepid, hours of outdoor fun are on the agenda.

If the weather is more suited to walking instead of snowmobiling or tubing, the Art Bench Tour takes guests along a trail dotted with works of art created by local youth. Another spot rated a “must see” is The Dike at Lakefront Park. Originally a toll bridge between Wisconsin and Minnesota, the former road has been turned into a 3,000-foot pedestrian scenic walkway with beautiful views of wildlife.

And don’t forget the Hot Air Affair, Hudson’s famous hot air balloon festival, which takes place this year Feb. 4-6.

All of this activity is bound to stir up an appetite. Hudson offers a wide variety of eateries including the popular Pier 500, a stone’s throw from the St. Croix River. During winter months, Pier 500 offers the Igloo Experience for private parties.

Bricks Neapolitan Pizza has handcrafted pizzas made according to Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana standards (which are created by only a few certified restaurants in the country).

Decadent desserts can be found at Knoke’s Chocolate and Nuts, 220 Locust St., Suite 4, and Keys Café and Bakery, 840 Carmichael Road.

Other restaurants range from the tried-and-true chains such as Applebee’s, Culver’s, and Buffalo Wild Wings.

A day trip to Hudson might be just the thing to warm a cold winter’s day.

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Marsha Martig is shown here at a previous event asking Santa for a tie-dye kit and a horse for Christmas.

Jolly Old Saint Nick

A Kiwanis Holiday Lights Santa takes role to heart

By Jane Turpin Moore | Photos by Robb Murray

The sincerest spirit of Santa Claus is personified in Nick Mart, a seasonal interpreter of that jolly old elf since 1987.

And beginning in 2017, Mart has generously lent his bent knee and ho-ho-ho’s as a resident Santa during the Kiwanis Holiday Lights festival at Sibley Park.

“Nick’s been amazing,” said Scott Wojcik, president of the Kiwanis Holiday Lights board of directors.

“I can’t say enough good things about him and his wife, Suzanne.”

Red suit goals

Mart is a modest man, wryly humorous but empathetic and thoughtful even in casual conversation.

A native and current resident of Armstrong, Iowa — a town of fewer than 1,000 about 20 miles south of Fairmont — Mart worked in the mid- to late-’80s as a software programmer at Taylor Corp. in North Mankato.

As Christmas 1986 approached, Mart paused to observe a Santa in action at the former shopping mall at

Madison East Center. The experience prompted him to entertain the idea of becoming a gift-giving Christmas hero himself.

“I heard Santa talking to the kids so I sat down and watched for a while; I thought it was so cool,” Mart said.

While home in Armstrong that Christmas, Mart asked his mother, Ruth, if she would sew him a Santa suit.

“She said ‘Yes,’ if I got her a pattern,” said Mart, and the hunt was on. A post-holiday stop at the local JOANN Fabric and Crafts yielded helpful intel.

“The clerk told me to wait until after Valentine’s Day because everything red would be on sale then,” he said. “The people at JOANN were just marvelous to work with.”

So Mart bided his time before buying a quantity of red material; his mother used a couple of his old shirts for sizing.

“I’m a little bit larger than the average person and I’ve always been rather stocky, but she made it a little bigger in case I needed to add a pillow,” laughed Mart.

The following December, Mart’s boss asked him to play Santa for a family Christmas in Beauford. Mart’s new girlfriend, Suzanne, tagged along for the gig.

Suzanne was impressed by Mart’s Santa persona — enough that she was moved to kiss Santa.

“She got lipstick on my beard,” he chuckled. They married the next year.

Mart’s Santa shtick snowballed from there. Although he’s consistently played Santa since his 1987 debut, he typically appeared at smaller assemblies, such as in homes for friends who wanted to treat youngsters to a family Christmas surprise.

Before his 2017 Kiwanis debut, the biggest group he’d entertained was about 150 kids at a Blue Earth Knights of Columbus event.

Rock star Santa

Mandy Hunecke, a past Kiwanis Holiday Lights board member who also grew up near Armstrong, Iowa, was aware of Mart’s quality Santa interpretation because he was her family’s “personal Santa” for years.

“When I was doing her family Christmas (in 2016), Mandy asked me to meet her in the garage,” Mart said.

There, she explained that Kiwanis was losing its Santa due to health concerns; she wondered if Mart would consider taking over.

“She said, ‘Our only requirement is that you have a real beard,’” Mart recalled.

Conveniently, after three decades of hearing Santa secrets in a fake beard, Mart had obeyed his wife’s urging and let his own beard grow the prior year.

And, luckily for him, it came in white.

Mart still needed Wojcik’s blessing. At their first meeting, Wojcik told Mart, “You’ve got a few things going for you: a real beard, the name and a real belly.”

“I passed that test,” Mart said, “and then Scott said, ‘Welcome aboard! If you want to do it, the job’s yours.’”

Although Mart was aware of Kiwanis Holiday Lights, he wasn’t fully prepared for his leap to Santa stardom in 2017.

“I was trying to figure out why they scheduled escorts for us,” Mart said.

Per Kiwanis tradition, Santa ceremonially flips the switch that magically transforms Sibley Park into a light-filled wonderland on opening night.

“That year, it was still a matter of connecting two cords,” Mart said. “When we (he and Mrs. Claus) arrived, it was beyond my wildest imagination. “We rode into the park on the float and I felt like a big-time rock star.”

Trying to get from the stage to the Santa Barn, they were mobbed by kids, some of them yelling, ‘Hey Santa, I’ve been good this year.’”

But the escorts did their duty, safely delivering Mart to the first of his numerous four-hour stints over five weekends as Kiwanis Lights Santa.

“Mrs. Claus handed out coloring books,” Mart said. “She kept count and gave out over 4,000. In all my years as Santa, I’d never seen that many kids.”

Kid talk

While many aspects of being Santa come naturally to Mart (he shares his given name, Nick, with his Christmas counterpart because his late grandfather preferred it for his first red-haired grandchild), don’t think he rests on his laurels — er, mistletoe.

To improve on his already realistic Santa look, Mart began visiting a local hair salon each November a few years ago to even out his whitening locks and match them to his natural beard.

“The color lasts through the season,” Mart confirmed, “and usually grows out around March.”

And, lacking a North Pole workshop, Mart does his homework.

“In Mankato, the first night caught me a little off guard because I didn’t know all the toys the kids were asking for.”

Now, he regularly makes preseason reconnaissance trips to stores for toy research purposes. Thus, Mart can discuss the latest toy trends with ease, including Fingerlings (“little dolls that fit on the tips of kids’ fingers”) and Hatchimals (“egg-shaped objects that hatch koala bears, penguins, that sort of thing”).

With years of experience under his black belt, Mart is equipped to deal with the confidences and requests petitioners toss his way.

“When kids ask for horses, I tell them, ‘Santa doesn’t do horses; they don’t fit in my sleigh so you’ll need to ask your mom and dad,’” he said.

“If they ask for a baby brother or sister, I say, ‘That’s not Santa’s job so you’ll need to talk to the stork.’”

And Mart holds true to his promise not to share those whispered wishes.

“One little girl years ago said, ‘You can’t tell my dad this, but I want a baby sister,’ and to this day I have not told him what she asked for,” Mart said. “I hold that confidence for kids because it makes it all more believable.”

Other Kiwanis volunteers, including Wendi Masters, confirm that.

“Nick and his wife play their roles so well,” Masters said. “He is so good with the kids, and takes time with each one. … Nick is the real deal.”

Even out of costume, Mart is sometimes mistaken for St. Nick.

“I was in the Fairmont Walmart one night some time back, wearing a red jacket, and I heard ‘Hi, Santa Claus,’” Mart reported.

“It was a kid, about 4 years old, in a cart, so I went over to talk. I told him, ‘You can’t tell anyone I’m here; I’m checking on who’s naughty or nice,’ and he got a big thrill out of that.”

Another time he overheard a little boy ask his dad, “Is that Santa Claus?” Obligingly, Mart answered, “Yeah, I am.”

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Though Mart doesn’t recall sitting on Santa’s knee as a child himself, he has fond memories of family Christmases and positive impressions of Santa.

“There was an optometrist in Armstrong who played Santa Claus when I was growing up, and I took my memories of the way he handled himself with me when I started,” Mart said. “And I’ve always believed in Santa Claus.”

Appropriately, Mart’s favorite Christmas book is Clement Clarke Moore’s “The Night Before Christmas.” The song he finds most meaningful is, “Mary, Did You Know?”

For anyone who has ever sweated about which cookies to leave for Santa’s midnight snack, fear not; Santa isn’t picky.

“The chocolate-covered Ritz crackers with peanut butter are good, but so are frosted sugar cookies and gingerbread,” said Mart with a grin. “I like ‘em all.”

As a Kiwanis volunteer, Mart directs the funds allocated for his seasonal hours to LEEP (Leisure Education for Exceptional People).

“I’ve never charged money for being Santa,” Mart said. “It’s just something I love doing, and watching kids’ eyes light up — that’s everything.”

He likes stirring his hot chocolate with candy canes while signing letters responding to those left for Santa in the special drop box at Sibley Park. And even though he’s been undergoing treatment for prostate cancer himself this year, he just keeps on believing.

“This is something God has laid upon me to do,” Mart said. “At certain times when people come to see Santa and confide something to me, I ask, ‘Would you mind if I pray for you right now?’”

Mart’s most memorable such moment occurred in his inaugural Kiwanis Santa season.

“A gal came up and said, ‘I’ve been trying to have a baby for years and I can’t have one. Can you help me out?’” Mart said. “The next year she returned — one out of 4,000 people I’d seen — and asked if I remembered her. She said, ‘You prayed for me to have a baby,’ then opened her coat — and she was eight months pregnant.

“God answered prayers that one night.” MM

Wendi Masters is one of the hundreds of volunteers who makes the event run smoothly.

Lighting up for the right reasons

Volunteers put in the time to shine for others

By Jane Turpin Moore | Photos by Pat Christman

It’s no secret Kiwanis Holiday Lights is a major seasonal spectacle in Mankato.

After all, nearly 2 million lights can’t be easily hidden under a bushel.

“I have spoken of a thousand points of light, of all the community organizations that are spread like stars throughout the nation, doing good,” said former President George Bush in his 1989 inaugural address.

In fact, it takes well over 1,000 people, working together and doing their parts, to bring the Kiwanis Holiday Lights festival to colorful life each year.

“I’d estimate we have between 2,000 to 2,500 people who volunteer (here) in a given year,” said Scott Wojcik, president of the Kiwanis display.

Some of those are individuals or families, but most are part of one of the dozens of nonprofit organizations and charitable groups that donate time to make the event a glittering reality.

“The most we’ve ever had was 90 organizations,” Wojcik said. “This year, it’s closer to 75.”

Make no mistake: These people are busier than Santa’s elves, working not just during the five weekends prior to the festival but afterward, too. And often their behind-the-scenes work continues yearround.

Wojcik, a member of the Mankato Downtown

Kiwanis Club who found the inspirational spark for the event from a similar effort in his Wisconsin hometown, clarifies that Kiwanis Holiday Lights is now its own entity — a full 501c(3) with a separate board of directors, mission statement and website.

Besides accepting donations of non-perishable items for local food shelves, the event collects free-will donations from those driving or strolling through Sibley Park during the event’s five-plus weeks.

“After we’ve paid our expenses, we calculate the total number of hours volunteers put in,” Wojcik said. “Then we divvy up the funds to the nonprofits they specify.”

Thus, Kiwanis Holiday Lights ends each season with a zero balance — and starts all over again to light up people’s lives and infuse Mankato with holiday spirit the following year.

“We cannot do it without the volunteers,” he said. “They’re essential to the plan.”

Wojcik and his wife, Lisa, executive director of LEEP, dedicate a sizable portion of time to the event themselves — and their four sons (19, 16 and 13-year-old twins) have inherited their parents’ enthusiasm for Christmas and volunteerism.

“Without Lisa’s support, there’s no way I could continue to do this,” Wojcik said. “It’s a huge commitment for me and the other board members. And I don’t expect our boys to help, but they offer to because they know the amount of effort my wife and I put into it, and they want to be a part of it, too.”

That translates, too, to the Wojciks’ home front.

“My neighbors call me Clark Griswold,” joked Wojcik, adding that “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation” is the family’s No. 1 holiday movie.

And Wojcik is quick to deflect credit for Kiwanis Holiday Lights’ success back to the scores of volunteers.

“Our community response is amazing,” he said. “These volunteers truly get a passion for it, understand what it is doing for this community and ask how they can get more involved.”

Small-town boy does good

For Al Kiefer, it’s a wonderful life.

No, really. “It’s a Wonderful Life” is Kiefer’s favorite holiday movie.

And why not? Kiefer is president of ProGrowth Bank’s Mankato branch, he has three children and a lovely wife, his take on life is unfailingly optimistic, and he gives sacrificially of his time and resources to benefit the town where he’s put down roots.

“We love the Mankato community and have been here for 41 years,” said 61-year-old Kiefer.

He is the seventh of 10 children, so diplomacy and pitching in are second nature.

“The family business was farm tiling,” Kiefer said. “Growing up in Taopi, we were ditch diggers.”

In that Mower County village where Kiefer spent his formative years, Kiefer learned, literally, how to dig in, get his hands dirty and do his part — lessons that have stuck with him throughout adulthood.

“Taopi’s population was 59, and 12 of them lived in my house,” he joked.

His wife, Margie, hails from a bigger Mower County town (Rose Creek, pop. 394). Kiefer came to Mankato to pursue an accounting degree at Minnesota State University and basically never left.

“I believe in community service and giving back,” Kiefer said. “As a banker, it’s part of my job, but Margie and I are huge proponents of volunteerism.”

A baseball and softball enthusiast, the All-American stick and ball game has figured heavily into Kiefer’s volunteer efforts for decades.

Faceless carolers were repurposed into Cindy Lou Who and her family.

Masters added a background to this image of Pocahontas.

He began coaching youth baseball and softball when his kids (now ages 37, 32 and 30) were young, and his involvement with MAYBA (Mankato Area Youth Baseball Association) numbered about 27 years. For the last decade, he has been MAYBA’s general manager.

With Kiefer’s nephew, Mankato attorney Chris Roe, on the Kiwanis Holiday Lights board, Kiefer became acquainted with both Wojcik and the opportunity for MAYBA involvement with the annual lights event.

“MAYBA has helped with (Kiwanis Holiday Lights) for over six years,” Kiefer said.

Initially, MAYBA — which provides about 50 volunteers from among its board, parents and teenage players — set out to help with the event’s setup, but the timing wasn’t the best fit.

“A lot of our guys are hunters, so the fall was busy,” Kiefer said. “But the cleanup really works well for us.”

Once the lights switch off for the season, MAYBA volunteers spring into action.

“We start on New Year’s Day and continue for the next couple of weekends until we’re done,” Kiefer said.

Their task? A virtual nightmare for many Christmas tree fans: untangling strands of lights, testing bulbs and then respooling them for storage until the following November.

“It’s close to 2 million lights,” Kiefer said, “and we get players from the East, West and Loyola

baseball teams to volunteer.

“It’s a great way for them to get in the habit of volunteering, and we’ve had really good success.”

Wojcik is grateful MAYBA fills a needed niche in the lights display machinery.

“They take it upon themselves to go into our warehouse and tackle the miles and miles of extension cords and strands of lights that arrive for them in huge balls,” Wojcik said.

“It takes so much pressure off us as a group to have them concentrate on teardown, and they have their own system going. They’re great at it, so have at it.”

Kiefer says the display’s funds directed to MAYBA for volunteer hours do not benefit MAYBA directly; instead, MAYBA gives the money received to the local high school baseball teams.

“The coaches help recruit the volunteers, so we in turn make the donations back to their programs,” Kiefer said.

Mastering the art of Christmas

Wendi Masters, 68, is hands on and all in when it comes to Kiwanis Holiday Lights — and it will take a lot more than hip replacement surgery to slow her down.

With an oversized kitchen island and a ready supply of paint brushes, Masters convalesced from her Aug. 4 medical adventure with a paintbrush in hand.

“I needed to get some scenery and props ready for Santa’s house, even during my recovery, so I laid scenery out and painted it in my kitchen,” said Masters, mentioning the theme for this year’s Santa house is “How the Grinch Stole Christmas.”

Believe it or not, the Grinch was chosen prior to the pandemic shutdown, which also shuttered Kiwanis Holiday Lights in 2020 due to a lack of available volunteers.

“They (volunteers) are such a good, dedicated group of people,” Masters said. “They love what they’re doing. Some people think it’s just an autumn through December effort, but it’s a yearround project that completely relies on volunteers.”

Masters, who retired two years ago from a 30-plus-year career as a Mankato Area Public Schools substitute teacher, said she is no stranger to volunteering.

A Mankato resident since age 2, Masters and her husband, Lee, are diehard Mankato East supporters.

“I’ve baked cookies for all the sports teams at Mankato East since 1997,” said Masters, noting the overall favorite is chocolate chip — but her frosted sugar cookie cutouts are also popular. “I just did a bunch of those for the Mankato East Hall of Fame inductees. We joke that (rival Mankato West) red is not allowed in our house.”

Her 37-year-old son, Adam, suffered a traumatic brain injury as a 4-year-old, and his experiences have led her to regularly volunteer for LEEP, as well.

Masters is a giving person who uses her talent for handiwork and flair for art (she majored in elementary education and art at Minnesota State University) to bring joy to others.

“I’ve painted murals in day care centers and kids’ bedrooms, done decor and flowers for friends’ weddings and we also enjoy gardening, landscaping and yard work,” she said. The Masters’ yard, which has been locally recognized twice for its beauty, was featured on an outdoor tour last year.

“We don’t just do it for our own pleasure,” Masters said. “We do it for other people to enjoy, too, and that brings us satisfaction.”

Masters, who says Lee is her behind-the-scenes support crew, delights in creating an enchanting environment for the Holiday Lights Santa and all the kids who visit him.

“Wendi transforms that area every year into a magical place and takes pride in doing it,” Wojcik said.

Said Masters, “Scott has said he won’t ever let us be done — but we enjoy it and look forward to it every year.” MM