HUDSON MA

HUDSON MA

The Victor Dyer Music Shell

Wood Park

Built - 1994

Hudson's first recorded history began in the early 1600s when a number of settlers were granted land parcels in the area. All went well with the settlers and the Native Americans until the mid 1600s when King Phillip, a Narragansett warrier became tired of the newcomers' rules and staged a war against them and fourteen other settlements in the immediate area. When the war ended, peace returned to these settlements and they were rebuilt with the people going back to their farms and continued to live in peace.

The Unitarian Church on Main Street near the town hall, which still stands today, provided a pulpit for Ralph Waldo Emerson, William Lloyd Garrison and Mark Twain and the congregation provided antislavery assistance during the Civil War era. If the walls of this structure could only talk, what stories they would tell!!!

The community is a quiet one with many hard-working people. Not only does Hudson offer the beauty of a semi-rural New England town but is also a metropolitan suburb and hosts many streams and two major lakes bisected by the Assabet River.

For our nation's bi-centennial, the Hudson Veterans Organizations raised about $10,000 and had a concrete base built by July 4, 1976 in the town's Wood Park just in time for the special celebrations. Almost 20 years later, in 1993, Hudson resident, Vic Dyer, had a dream to clean up Wood Park, which sorely needed it due to its becoming overgrown with vegetation and had remained unused by Hudson residents for many years. He also had an idea to finish the job that had been started by the organization and have a music shell amphitheatre with a roof, dressing rooms and storage space built that could be used by all of the residents of the town.

From that point on, the money for Mr. Dyer's project came in slowly and Vic did many of the jobs on the park himself with his "girls" as he called the ladies who held bake sales, pancake breakfasts, dances, flea markets and craft fairs - doing anything they could to raise money for the dream that was taking shape.

It became clear that $100,000 was needed for the completion of the music shell, but by the early 90s, the "Friends" had raised only half of the needed amount to continue this project.

Finally in 1992, a check arrived for $50,000 given to the shell committee from Walmart which was the frosting on the cake and soon the music shell was completed and dedicated to the town and the Recreation Department. Vic, himself, also made a 58" diameter intricately carved Town Seal and presented it to the Music Shell Committee and the town of Hudson as a "labor of love."

In 1997, the tables were turned on Vic when he found out that they were renaming the Wood Park Music Shell to "The Victor Dyer Music Shell." Mr. Dyer's hard work and formulation of his dream into reality paid off and even though he asked for nothing in return, was honored for his great effort to his community.

The music shell holds concerts every Wednesday night from June through August and every concert is always well attended by citizens and visitors.

INFORMATION PROVIDED BY:

Mrs. Helen Charbonneau

Hudson Historical Society