Showing Up for Small Town USA

Answering the call for our community. Behind some of our biggest moments are volunteers.

By Dani McCulley 

Last week, my intern, Ken, and I were at the Hudson Volunteer Fire & Rescue station talking with Fire Inc. President, firefighter and EMT Tina Petersen for this year’s Hudson Days issue when our conversation was cut short. 

Tina’s pager went off. She had to go take the call. 

Driving home, I couldn’t stop thinking about the life all of our volunteers live. 

Not the emergency itself. The life. 

Always on call. Always ready. Knowing that at any moment, whatever you’re doing can wait because someone else can’t. 

For as long as I can remember, the Hudson Fire Department has simply been part of life in our community. I’ve seen the fire trucks at parades, state tournament sendoffs, memorial rides and community events. Like most people, I saw the trucks. 

What I realized that afternoon was I had never really stopped to think about the people behind them. Or the families behind them. 

Every time the pager goes off, a conversation ends. Dinner gets interrupted. A family gathering pauses. A spouse stays behind. Children watch Mom or Dad walk out the door, not knowing what kind of call they’re responding to or when they’ll be home. 

That sacrifice doesn’t belong only to the firefighter or paramedic. It belongs to the family that shares them with the rest of us. 

The more I thought about it, the more memories came back. 

Back in 2020, during my mom’s battle with cancer, I saw another side of the Hudson Fire Department. 

The woman I had always known— and the woman many of them had always known— as incredibly strong-willed was suddenly in one of the most vulnerable seasons of her life. 

Watching that was hard. But what I remember just as much as the care they gave my mom was the comfort they gave me and my family.  

Outside of that emergency, two members of the department happened to live next door. Whenever we needed an extra hand getting Mom in or out of the car, they were simply there. 

They weren’t firefighters in those moments. They were neighbors. 

Every year during my mom’s memorial ride, those same volunteers escort us out of town in their fire trucks. A simple reminder that their service doesn’t begin when the pager goes off, and it doesn’t always end when the call is over.

As I continued working on this story, I realized the Hudson Fire Department has quietly become part of so many stories in this town. 

Some are moments of celebration. Others are moments of heartbreak. Some become front-page news.  Most never do. 

As part of this story, I asked a few members of the department what they wished people knew about being a volunteer firefighter. 

Their answers weren’t about recognition. They were about responsibility. 

They talked about spending evenings training, maintaining equipment, attending meetings, completing certifications and preparing for emergencies they hope never happen— all while balancing careers and family life. They talked about checking on one another after difficult calls because in a small town, the people they’re responding to are often friends, neighbors or someone they’ve known for years. More than anything, they talked about serving the community they love. 

Not one firefighter asked for praise. Instead, they spoke with gratitude for the community that continues to support them. One firefighter described it as “the greatest job you’ll ever have that you don’t get paid for.”  Another called the department “ordinary people that may be asked to do extraordinary things.” 

Not long ago, Nutri-Ject owner Scott Wienands shared a story with me about the fire that destroyed his business in 1993. Afterward, several communities encouraged him to rebuild in their towns. 

He never seriously considered it. He stayed in Hudson because of the way the Hudson Fire Department responded that day. More than 30 years later, you could still hear the gratitude in his voice. 

Over the course of a lifetime, you don’t always realize how many chapters of your story include the Hudson Fire Department until you stop and think about it. 

This year’s Hudson Days theme is “Small Town USA.” 

The more I thought about it, the more I realized that has a deeper meaning because of people like the volunteers of the Hudson Fire Department. 

Over the course of a lifetime, they’ve quietly become part of so many of our stories. 

They celebrate with us. They grieve with us. They comfort us. They protect us. They stand beside us on some of our best days and some of our worst. 

Whether it’s welcoming state champions home, leading a memorial ride, escorting Santa into town, helping a family through an emergency, responding to a fire or making a child’s birthday unforgettable with a visit from a fire truck, they have a way of becoming part of the memories that shape a community. 

That’s what “Small Town USA” looks like. 

This Friday’s Firemen’s Dance begins at 6 p.m. at the Hudson Fire Station. As one of the department’s biggest fundraisers, it’s an opportunity for our community to give back to the volunteers who quietly give so much to ours.