January Speaker Recalls Life in Hudson During the 50’s and 60’s

Hudson Heritage Association resumes its monthly programs in January when Hudson native Barney Kemter will show photos and talk about life in Hudson Villlage in the 1950s and 1960s. The meeting, free and open to the public, will be at the Barlow Community Center on Thursday, January 12 at 7:30 p.m.

Kemter moved to Hudson in 1946 and grew up in the Harlow Davis House at 106 Aurora Street. Located on the southwest corner of Aurora and Oviatt Streets, it was used as a dormitory by Western Reserve Academy in the 1930s and called Loomis Cottage.

Kemter is a member the Hudson High Class of 1962. As a high school senior, he joined the Hudson Fire Department and he and his Dalmatian fire dog, Spook, both rode the fire engines. Akron Beacon Journal columnist Francis Murphy did several features on the dog.

Kemter then spent several years working at the Johnson Funeral Home and later retired from the Army as a Lieutenant Colonel, having earned seven Secretary of the Army awards for energy conservation initiatives. Most recently, he came back to the town in which he grew up and presented the keynote address at the Memorial Day Service. Even more recently, Kemter has posted numerous photos and stories on the Facebook page, “I Grew Up In Hudson.”