Parades may not strictly be art but they share with other artistic events the requirements of creativity and organization. Hudson hosts the Remembrance Day parade every November and then stages the Santa Claus parade in December.

            The Remembrance Day parade offers the community a chance to demonstarte their appreciation for Canada’s veterans, many of whom are getting on in years but still come out for this event. It also emphasizes that we are a community and have been for a long time. The evidence is there in the veterans who take part in the parade and their many descendants who still live in the area.

            The Santa Claus parade is just good family fun. The picture shows the Hudson Players Club participating in the parade. You can always tell which local groups are well-organized at any particular time by their participation in these kinds of community events. It takes a bit of initiative for such groups to decide to do something for an event and then carry it out. Good parade this year.

            No discussion of the year’s end in the Hudson arts scene is complete without mentioning the annual Panto. Panto veteran Mary Vuorela directed this year’s offering, “Robin Hood.” The picture shows Vaudreuil-Soulanges MP Jamie Nichols, appropriately cast inthe lead as Robin Hood. We note that the Sheriff of Nottingham, consistently mispronounced as Nothingham to get a laugh, did not look like Stephen Harper and that there were no Justin Trudeau look-alikes among the Merry Men.

            On a more serious note, community theatre is the perfect antidote to excessive smart phone and social network use. Often whole families get involved and the young people end up doing, not just watching. Taking part in a theatrical presentation has facets to suit almost anyone.

            In addition to performers who can act, sing or dance, there is a large backstage crew that does set construction, set painting, costume sewing, lighting and sound. Hudson owes a debt to the people who keep organizing these events and give Hudson residents the opportunity to take part in a fun family activity.

            This winter and spring the Hudson Film Society and the Chamber Music Series are bringing us some new events in addition to their regular subscriptions. Both events take place at the Village Theatre and you can find out more in the writeups on each event in this issue.

            “War Horse” is a video taken live during a performance of the play at England’s National Theatre. The idea is to bring live theatre to a wider audience through high resolution video recordings. The video is shot continuously to get the effect of being present at the play, but the action still includes close-ups and shots that an average theatre goer sitting at some ditance from the stage would miss. The concept combines the loss of some of the immediacy of being present at the performance in the theatre with a better view of the action and a much reduced cost. The Film Society is pionneering this approach in the Village Theatre space.

            The Chamber Music Series is also embarking on a new venture outside its traditional Sunday afternoon chamber music at St. James events. The”Bohemians in Brooklyn” collaboration with Village Theatre is more of a musical theatre show than chamber music and takes place on Sunday, February 22 at 2:00 pm. Tickets are outside the Chamber Music Subscription and cost $29.00 plus tax on the Village Theatre website. More information is available under the Chamber Music section of this issue.

            The Hudson Music Club continues its journey away from its traditional large stage musicals base by presenting a tribute to ABBA. With a cast of two actors and eighteen singers, the club promises to bring dance, ABBA music and stories to the Village Theatre stage for fifteen performances in March. Check out this issue’s section on the Hudson Music Club for more information.

            In addition to the regular events, Hudson is seeing several initiatives on the cultural front. The Town has promised to reveal an exciting overall strategy for future development integrating an arts orientation and support for local arts and cultural groups. There are several proposals for establishing an Arts Centre but none are ready for implementation yet. Hudson will be celebrating its 150th anniversary this year and several events are being planned. St. James also has an anniversary coming up and many groups are looking at new initiatives and new ways of making their cultural events, services or products more accessible to the public. Other communities can put up performance spaces or cultural facilities but Hudson also has the local content needed to keep such spaces busy and relevant.

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