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(Hodag, cont.) It was to this small town we were returning, the place of Fourth of July fireworks displays and the Hodag water ski shows. Though there would be no visit to the cabin, no campfires, no using the powder-smelling, bug-infested outhouse and no bathing in the lake, my mother and I were excited to revisit this place that had only existed in our minds and photographs for the better part of a decade. We found in its place something different from what we had remembered. Though it was inevitable that what we encountered as Business 8 turned into Lincoln Street would eventually take over the town, I naively did not expect it. There was something that invaded Rhinelander, under the pretext of bringing change, much the same way the railroad did in the town back in the 1880s. This something was glaringly obvious driving into town, so impossible to ignore that my mother and I became silent as we were surrounded by what everyone in America has become accustomed to: Home Depot, Auto Zone, a brigade of fast food chains and the granddaddy of them all, Wal-Mart. Even though my mother shops at such places, reasoning that she can save five bucks, she muttered “Wal-Mart” under her breath in a disgusted tone as we drove by it - as if the corporation was personally responsible for ending the innocence of her childhood in Rhinelander. More likely, it was that Rhinelander, like us, had changed. Of course, there were still aspects that remained true to Rhinelander’s small town. People still moved slowly and left their doors unlocked, the “best sandwiches in town" were still served in a bar with mirrored beer signs and one local asserted that there were no gangs in Rhinelander because the youth knew their mothers would find out if they were misbehaving. Despite the small town elements that remained intact, I saw the effects of the recent growth of the shopping centers as well. Judy Bromman, a Rhinelander resident and employee of the Chamber of Commerce, lamented the fact that the community was losing some of its small town feel. The old downtown of Rhinelander was silent and empty, as there were now better places for locals to shop. It was evident that, for better or worse, the town has changed. Like its home, the Hodag also has changed. While it has been used for quite some time as a promotional tool for the area, it is now heavily controlled. Hodag merchandise is officially licensed and sold through a variety of vehicles including the Officially Licensed Hodag Merchandise Online Store, the Chamber of Commerce and, of course, Wal-Mart. Despite the inclusion of Rhinelander’s most famed beast into the commercialization of the town, it continues to connect Rhinelander to its past, serving as a marker for the community that sired it and as a reminder of its small town roots. Our return trip ended with a halfhearted search of a souvenir Hodag statue, as a token reminder of the experience, as well as a little something to remind me of my past in Rhinelander. Though I returned home empty-handed, I realized that the very fact that the Hodag still reminded me of a time which is now gone proves the power of its legacy. The Hodag will always remind me of walks in the woods, the tiny frogs littering the sandy ground at my grandparent’s cabin, s’mores at night and reading my grandma’s bird watching books when I had nothing else to do. Huber had mentioned how amazed she was that even in light of its fakeness, the legacy of the Hodag continues today. Perhaps that is what is so powerful about it. Even though I will probably never return to the cabin, and Wal-Mart will continue to change Rhinelander and its people, there is a piece of the past that remains. Luckily for Rhinelander, its past exists beyond memories, and the town owes that to the Hodag. |
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