Interview with Lynn Brandt on Hudson’s Santa Village

If you’ve passed by 7th Street Park in Hudson lately, you’ve seen “Santa’s Village”. The little houses are a festive way to celebrate the holiday season. This year, many of the houses have been refurbished.

Trixie’s List did a quick Q/A with Lynn Brandt, one of the main organizers behind the renovations. If you would like to see the Santa Village houses in previous years, click here.

Trixie’s List: What made you decide to take on this project?

Lynn Brandt: There were a few factors that led me to take on this project. First, I’m a very community-oriented person, as are my fellow board members. Although I am not a Hudsonian, I have lived in Columbia County all my life and worked in the City of Hudson half my life. Christmas is my favorite time of year. I absolutely love the lights, decorations and music. I wanted to do something for the community that showed that you can make changes without losing the past, history or traditions. That it is possible to grow without completely changing people’s way of life. There is a middle ground. I knew that the last few years the Santa’s Village houses were in need of some love. So, I started researching who was responsible for the houses. I reached out to the City Historian, spoke with DPW [Department of Public Works] and the Mayor. DPW and the Mayor green-lighted the project, so I set out to find sponsors.

Trixie’s List: How many people were involved?  How much time/labor went into this?  Where there any houses that needed extra work?

Lynn Brandt: It’s hard to say exactly how many people were involved. The primary sponsors were Hudson NY – Public Community Board (HPCB), Hudson Police Dept., Hudson Fire Dept., Lowes of Hudson, Silver Fox Builds & Reno’s, Moss Contracting, Sherwin Williams and Operation Unite. Each was responsible for funding, labor and meeting the deadline of Thanksgiving. I’m going to guess that most of the houses had a budget of $500 – $1000. However, the Silver Fox/Lowes house was just about a complete rebuild. I believe that the only thing that is original on the house is the front window. 

Trixie’s List: Are there any plans for next year for any additional Santa’s Village houses?

Lynn Brandt: At this point, the plan is for the HPCB to continue to care for the houses, and possibly add a few more if the donations and sponsorships are there. I would have to work with DPW to make sure that they could provide any necessary electricity to the new houses, and be able to install them. DPW really does put a lot of labor into getting the houses up and running.

Trixie’s List: If someone would like to get involved and help out, what should they do?

Lynn Brandt: If someone would like to sponsor a new house or are interested in helping with the upkeep of the current houses, they can reach out to me or Justin Elliott on the HPCB. I’m also looking into how monetary donations can be made for continued upkeep of the houses, especially since some of the houses will need more structural work in the future and may need more skilled hands as well.

Lynn Brandt: It was a fun project. It was also nice to hear about how some of the people involved remember the 7th St. Park at Christmastime and how they enjoyed viewing the houses and other decorations in the park as children. I did not grow up in Hudson and did not experience the park until I was in my late teens, early twenties.

Lynn Brandt: I would also like to note that we required two of the houses to keep the original theme, as we were able to locate the original plaques inside these two houses – Santa’s Woodland Music Room (Lowes) and Santa’s Workshop (HFD). All the other houses were given free reign on the theme as long as it was holiday-oriented.

I believe all the feedback has been positive, and that the community is very happy with the outcome.

Thank you very much for asking about the houses.

List of Sponsors:

City of Hudson DPW
Columbia County DPW
DC Home Renovations
Herrington’s of Hudson
Hudson Fire Department – Santa’s Work Shop House
Hudson NY, Public Community Board – Santa’s Mailroom House
Hudson Police Department & PBA – The Grinch House
Lowes of Hudson – Santa’s Woodland Music Room, (Co-Sponsored) Gingerbread House, The Fox’s Den & the Hanukkah House.
MK Crafts & Décor
Nick Cozzolino
Operation Unite – Kwanza House
Quality Trophies
Ross Construction – Gingerbread House
Sherwin Williams – Hanukkah House
Silver Fox Builds & Reno’s – Foxes Den
The Mat