August 23, 1982. Nineteen-year-old Rhoda Blake and 23-year-old Dan Hudson were on a blind date. The destination was SuperEX at Lansdowne Park. Earlier that evening, Blake’s friend had set her up with Hudson, a neighbour’s brother.
“I thought he was very quiet, but nice,” Blake said. “We walked around a lot. I don’t remember if we went on rides. We ran into a lot of people he knew, and he could never remember my name,” she laughed.
“I felt kind of tense,” Hudson remembered. “But she was definitely different, in a good way. She’s fun-loving and good with kids.”
Despite a bit of awkwardness, she liked him. Soon after, the two became inseparable, marrying four years later.
Now 46 and 50 years old respectively, the couple, who now lives in Richmond east of Montreal, still comes to SuperEX every year they can.
The exhibition, which opens at Lansdowne Park at noon today, has changed in the 27 years since they first attended — “it’s really evolved, there’s more to look at and the rides have really changed,” Blake said. “But going to Lansdowne Park always takes me way back, back before marriage and the kids.”
This Saturday, the entire family — Blake, Hudson and children Daryl, 22, and Alex, 17, will attend SuperEX together to watch daughter Kelly, 20, in her first big fashion show.
“I imagine it’s a place where a lot of people bring dates in the summer. There’s food, stuff to drink, concerts and rides are very romantic,” said SuperEX’s manager of marketing and communications Doug Hempstead.
Blake agreed. “It’s an exciting place,” she said. “You can always find something to break the ice.”
