Organizers of the Border Battle Tug-of-War last year raised $4,000 for first responders by staging a massive tug-of-war on the Stillwater Lift Bridge prior to a Vikings-Packers game.
But when organizers approached the Minnesota Department of Transportation for permission to hold the event again this winter, MnDOT officials denied their request, stating they could “no longer support annual or recurring events on the structure.”
“Allowing individual events creates a precedent issue and makes it difficult to determine which events are allowable moving forward,” Matthew Schleusner, the agency’s east area principal engineer, wrote in an email to organizers. “We certainly recognize the community’s enthusiasm for this tradition and the bridge’s significance as a shared landmark, but due to the bridge’s historic status, we need to maintain consistency in how the space is managed.”
On Monday, organizers announced that the fundraiser for first-responder associations in the St. Croix River Valley will move to the causeway of the Old Hudson Toll Bridge, otherwise known as the Hudson Dike, in downtown Hudson, Wis. The event will be held at 10 a.m. Jan. 4, right before the two NFL teams face off at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis.
“We’re disappointed,” said Cory Buettner, who helps organize the event. “I find it hard to believe that our event could somehow negatively impact the integrity and historical significance of the bridge.”
A sign leads to the Old Toll Bridge in downtown Hudson, where this season’s Border Battle Tug of War will be held. (Courtesy of Cory Buettner)
MnDOT officials have previously accommodated a few events on the historic bridge, which no longer carries vehicular traffic, under a “special-occasion justification,” Buettner said. Among them: last year’s Border Battle and a pasta dinner to mark the opening of the Chestnut Street Plaza.
About 300 signed up to compete in last year’s Border Battle, and another 600 or so came out to watch, said Buettner, who owns Leo’s Grill & Malt Shop in downtown Stillwater.
The event is a fundraiser for the Stillwater Police Association, the Stillwater Fire Department Relief Association, Lakeview Health EMS, the North Hudson (Wis.) Police Department and the Town of St. Joseph (Wis.) Fire and Rescue Department.
How it works
Here’s how the Border Battle works: A series of tugs will take place throughout the morning with 25 team members on each side. All participants must register in advance and pay a $30 fee. The minimum age is 18.
Participants pulling for the Vikings will receive a beanie with a purple-and-gold Border Battle patch on it and Packers fans will receive a beanie with a green-and-gold Border Battle patch on it.
Football fans from Minnesota and Wisconsin met on the Stillwater Lift Bridge on Sunday morning, Dec. 29, 2024, to watch the first-ever “Border Battle” tug-of-war event preceding the game between the Minnesota Vikings and the Green Bay Packers. (Feven Gerezgiher / MPR News)
The winning state will get bragging rights — and raise more money, Buettner said. Sixty percent of the net proceeds will go to the first-responder associations on the winning side of the river; associations on the losing side will get the rest, he said.
“We feel the Lift Bridge is a public asset and that during this time, when the Loop Trail is not heavily used, that we should utilize this as a landmark where people from both sides of the river can come together and have a good time and do something good for the heroes in our communities,” he said.
Every other year?
Stillwater Mayor Ted Kozlowski said he hopes officials from MnDOT, which owns the Lift Bridge, might be more accommodating next year.
“I like the idea of swapping between Stillwater and Hudson every other year to build ties,” he said. “The main issue is the city doesn’t own the Lift Bridge. I think it’s worth a discussion with MnDOT for future years.”
Buettner said he also likes the idea of going back and forth.
“It truly is a border battle,” Buettner said. “We’re looking for a little wedge of possible compromise because our event is in the dead of winter on a Sunday morning when the trail is not very busy.”
Kent Barnard, a spokesman for MnDOT, said Monday that he did not think agency officials will change their minds. The bridge, built in 1931, is a designated historic property and must be “managed in accordance with those preservation requirements,” he said.
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“We are opposed to commercial or recurring activities on it,” he said. “We have done one-off events, including we had the dinner on there, and then last year we did allow that Border Battle to go on, but we do not support annual or recurring events on the Lift Bridge.”
MnDOT officials, Barnard said, do not want to be put in the position of having to decide who gets to do an event and who doesn’t.
“The bottom line is: It is not an event space. It is used for transportation. It’s not for special events. If we continue to do this, we’re going to continue to get more requests and more requests, and it puts us in an awkward position of having to say ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to things.”
Who won last year? Packers fans prevailed by a score of three tugs to two, Buettner said. “But the Vikings won the football game. Most importantly, everyone had a good time.”
Border Battle Tug-of-War
What: A tug-of-war pitting Minnesota Vikings fans against Green Bay Packers fans in a fundraiser for the Minnesota and Wisconsin first responder organizations.
When: 10 a.m. Jan. 4, which is the day the teams face off at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis.
Where: Old Hudson Toll Bridge, Hudson, Wis.
Cost: $30 per participant
Information: borderbattle.org.
