Sam Hudson: Mr. Vt. Maple Festival

Richard Cowperthwait -- An Interview With Sam Hudson: Mr. Vt. Maple Festival

When I asked Sam Hudson if he'd sit down with me for an interview, the obvious place to meet was at the Vermont Maple Festival. And that's just what we did last Saturday afternoon during the middle day of the sometimes soggy three-day fest that Hudson helped get off the ground in the late 1960s. Through the efforts of Hudson and many others, the festival has proven to be an enduring event and one that has done a lot to boost an industry that's synonymous with Franklin County and Vermont, and helped put St. Albans on the map. For example, the Easter Sunday edition of the Philadelphia Enquirer had a "10 for the Road" Travel section story on springtime weekend events within a day's drive of the City of Brotherly Love. The Maple Festival made that list!

"It's quite an honor," Hudson, the festival's first chairman, said of his involvement in an event that still appears to be going strong after all these years. He was quick to credit the many organizers, chairs, volunteers, and sugarmakers who have helped make the festival the success that it is. As he put it, "You've got to give a lot of people credit. It's a lot of work." Just ask this year's chair, Carolyn Perley of Enosburgh.

As Hudson and I were heading over to a bench on Taylor Park from City Hall, we bumped into Democratic Rep. Jim Fitzgerald of St. Albans. One of a number of local scions who participated in Sunday's parade with the likes of Gov. Jim Douglas, Congressman Peter Welch, state Treasurer Jeb Spaulding, state Auditor Tom Salmon, St. Albans Mayor Marty Manahan, and St. Albans Town Selectboard Chairman Mitch Montagne. Fitzgerald has known Hudson for years. "He's a good man," said Fitzgerald. "He's done a lot for Franklin County"

And Hudson certainly knows Franklin County far better than most, in part because of his many years as Franklin (and Grand Isle) County forester and, later, two terms as state senator. "I did a lot of work with
kids," recalled Hudson of his old job as county forester, which doesn't seem to carry as high a profile these days; Hudson, who also worked with many farmers, is saddened by the decline of the dairy industry and struck by the related residential growth that has markedly changed the Franklin County landscape. Hudson and his wife, Pat, who have two daughters, are residents of Fairfax, one of the fastest-growing towns in Franklin County. Pat Hudson, a retired educator, knows all about growth in Fairfax as she sits on the town's Planning Commission.

After stepping down as county forester in 1981, Hudson held other state forestry-related jobs and was active with the Vermont State Employees Association and state Retirement Association. In 1990, he first ran for state senator as a moderate Republican, a breed that has practically vanished. He didn't win in 1990, but was victorious in 1992, becoming the first Republican to win a Franklin District senate seat since Ernest Perley in the 1950s. That breakthrough for Republicans gave Hudson a secure place in Franklin County political history. He was re-elected in 1994 but unseated in 1996 when another Republican, George Costes of St. Albans, and Democrat Sara Branon Kittell of Fairfield prevailed.

Asked about his foray into politics, Hudson credits Ted Tyler, the then-Franklin County Republican Committee chairman, with being his mentor. "Salt of the earth" is how Tyler describes Hudson, pointing out that he had some name recognition and a good track record when he became a candidate. "You go after 10 or 20 people and you're lucky to get one," Tyler said of the considerable time he spent trying to recruit candidates. He definitely scored with Hudson, who termed "nauseating" the mega-bucks that are so much a part of today's national political scene. "People get tired of it."

Hudson eventually became disenchanted with the rightward tilt of the GOP to the extent that he now considers himself an independent who might well vote for a Democrat for president next year. Many Republicans were incensed when then-U.S. Senator Jim Jeffords defected from the Republican ranks to become an independent in 2001. "I sympathized with Jim Jeffords," said Hudson. He recalled that one of the sticking points between Jeffords and the Bush Administration was Jeffords' inability to convince the administration to spend more money on special education, a thorny issue that continues to dog school districts such as budget-challenged St. Albans City.

And Hudson is sharply critical of the Bush Administration's conduct of the Iraq War. "We can't win over there," said the veteran of Word War II and the Korean War, who fears that U.S. troops are in a no-win situation. "It's just unbelievable."

Hudson always has struck me as a practical, down-to-earth guy who combines intelligence with a good sense of humor. We also share an Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) connection, with Hudson having secured a forest management degree from North Carolina State and this scribe having logged time at Duke and UNC at Chapel Hill. He'll turn 80 later this year but shows no sign of slowing down. Hudson still takes on forestry-related consulting jobs and manages some town forests in Franklin County, including St. Albans Town's. "Never a dull moment," said Hudson, who was nothing if not nostalgic about visiting the latest edition of the Maple Festival. And even if it was a bit wet, at least it wasn't snow that Hudson remembers from some past festivals held in March.

Richard Cowperthwait is a local journalist who covers Franklin County issues. The above article appeared in the Wednesday, My 4, 2007 issue of The St. Albans Messenger