July 11, 2014 at 9:57 p.m.
'Hodag family' treats country fest like a reunion
'Hodag family' treats country fest like a reunion
They may not be related by blood, but that doesn't mean they're not family.
A group of friends, assembled over the years through various means, uses the Hodag Country Festival as a family reunion.
It's a time to catch up, crack jokes and, most importantly, have fun. Marty Nehls of Wausau said it's really her favorite time of year.
"I don't see these people except for Hodag," she said. "It's our Hodag family. We're all fun, we get a long really well and we have each other's backs. There's no drama at all, just a lot of fun. We've met each other over the years. They just wander in eventually and stick around. We're the ones that like to stay up late around the fire. This is my favorite part of Hodag, the party."
Deb Okrzesik, also from Wausau, said her campsite plays host to most of the week's festivities.
"There are the neighbors from down the road and there are the neighbors from down the street," she said. "We all met each other through the years. This is the time of year we all get to see each other. We're kind of the social spot around this part of Hodag."
Because the members of the group see each other only once a year, except for maybe the occasional road trip, they make sure to go all out.
Okrzesik said they pull out all the stops for more than a week.
"We have Jell-O shots, pudding shots in little miniature ice cream cones, meaning we're wasting nothing," she said. "We've gone totally green around here. We're having a fiesta on Saturday. Last year we had a Jamaican theme, but these year we wanted a fiesta. There will be salsa, tequila, wop and sombreros. There's a children's piñata and an adult's piñata as well."
The campsite is fully stocked too. There's an abundance of food, and not just bags of chips and pretzels. There's a legitimate spread in play, and come Saturday's fiesta, the Hodag family will really shift things into high gear.
Marcia Noble of Seymour said she loves Hodag and this year, she's done plenty of preparation for Saturday's fiesta.
"It's time to relax and have fun," she said. "We get silly and I love it. Last year I didn't know we were having the Jamaican day, but this year I've prepared a whole outfit for our fiesta. We come up the Saturday before (the festival begins) and just have a lot of fun. The first few days we relax and sit in the sun. We really take it easy. Then on Wednesday, we start partying. The older you get, the more you enjoy it."
For them, even the country music on which the entire festival is centered takes a back seat to the reunion. When asked which shows she was most excited for, Nehls joked about the group's priorities.
"What do you mean acts," she laughed. "There are shows? Get out of here."
They do see the shows. Okrzesik said she loved Kenny Rogers and was excited to see Darius Rucker and Sawyer Brown. It's true though that the music plays second fiddle to the fun they have back at the campsite.
After all, it's family tradition.
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