By Diane Prokop • Special to The Current
The town of Jim Thorpe lost a great friend in Dan Hugos this past November, at the age of 68, after a brave battle with Multiple System Atrophy, an incurable neurological disease. While he’ll be sorely missed, his talents, vision, hard work, belief in, and love for this little hamlet and its people will continue to be felt for decades to come.
For Hugos, a deft guitarist himself, a great concert could be spiritual. Bringing music and life back to the venerable old Mauch Chunk Opera House, along with his enthusiastic work to promote it and the town, has been instrumental in Jim Thorpe’s success and top rankings in national “Best” lists.
To say he lived and traveled across the country and around the world is no exaggeration, yet he chose to put down roots in Jim Thorpe, roots that still continue to grow. Maybe it was that vortex he sometimes talked about that drew people to the town tucked between the mountains.
Hugos spent his early childhood in various countries around the world, from Manila and Malaga, to Paris and Tripoli. With his wife, Nancy Zeigler, whom the vortex brought to Hugos’ gallery in 2003, they traveled to 29 countries together, including several trips to their favorite spot – the Lake District in the UK. They rode camels in the Sahara and drifted over Cappadocia in a hot air balloon. They floated down the winding Mekong River and along Venetian canals. They dodged scooters in Hanoi and bullets in Sarajevo, watched the sunrise at Angkor Wat and the sunset at the Alhambra.
He first discovered Jim Thorpe on a weekend biking trip in 1998, fell in love with “this cool town with a heck of a lot going on,” and experienced its magnetic pull to buy a house here – first on Race Street.
In 2002, while still working in New York during the week as a database programmer, he purchased a house on Opera House Square, where he opened his fine art photography gallery, Dakota Ridge, just across the street from an old vaudeville venue, sorely in need of an extraordinary amount of tender loving care.
A year later, while sitting on the stoop outside of the gallery, Hugos and his musician neighbor/future partner, Vince DeGiosio, mused about bringing music back to the performance hall, which in its first heyday saw the likes of Charlie Chaplin, Al Jolson and Mae West trod its stage. That moment put the Opera House and the town itself on a whole new trajectory.
The manifestation of that dream was no small task. The first concert had less than 30 attendees. In the early days, seats were blocked off so concertgoers wouldn’t get wet from the leaky roof. Hugos got a long-term lease with the Mauch Chunk Historical Society, which owns the building, coordinated the installation of a new steel roof funded with a federal grant and replacement of all the seating – just the beginning of ongoing capital improvements to the 1881 structure – Hugos’ baby. He handled financing and marketing, mopped floors, and booked acts alongside DeGiosio.
When JTAMS, Hugos’, DeGiosio’s and Christy McGorry-DeGiosio’s production company, expanded concert offerings to both Friday and Saturdays and then added occasional Thursdays, the impact on bookings for the town was exponential. These concertgoers didn’t just stay overnight to see a show, they enjoyed the shops, pubs and restaurants, and all the outdoor adventure there is to be had in the town. Even more importantly, they kept coming back.
Dave Drury, co-owner of the Inn at Jim Thorpe, saw firsthand the impact the Opera House and Hugos had on the town. “The opera house – Dan and Vince started it all off and it was huge,” Drury said. “With very little money, it was such a struggle for them. They just kept at it, both of them…a labor of love.”
Drury was on a Jim Thorpe Chamber of Commerce – now known as the Jim Thorpe Tourism Association (JTTA) – marketing committee with Hugos, who at the time had spearheaded and directed the design and completion of the billboard on the PA Turnpike.
Drury was also on the JTTA board with Hugos, who had served as president for eight years. During his tenure, Hugos grew the membership, reimagined the Winterfest celebration to what goers will experience February 14 and 15, and revamped the Visitors Guide, featuring some of his iconic images that drew people to town. He overhauled and ran the organization’s website (www.JimThorpe.org).
An egalitarian at heart, he made sure that every member of the chamber’s listing on the website rotated so that no matter what letter your business name began with, you got an equal shot at being seen.
“It was all for the good of the town,” Drury said. “Dan was always pro-Jim Thorpe, helping to push stuff through,” alongside the late Board treasurer Mike Guy, whose wife Sandy owns and operates Rainbow’s End.
Hugos also coordinated the Fall Foliage Festival, drawing people out of the park up Broadway and Race Street with live music to explore the rest of the town, its shops, restaurants and on up to the Opera House.
Randall Sellers of Sellers Books and Art, who succeeded Hugos as JTTA president in 2015, remembers their discussions well. “Dan had lived out west, in a ski town or two, and I remember the Big Sky of the West in his eyes when we’d talk about the future of Jim Thorpe over a coffee or beer. He recognized the town’s potential, and worked tirelessly for years to promote tourism here.”
Working with him on festivals and destination marketing was “a joy and an education. He brought a vision for the Mauch Chunk Opera House and for Jim Thorpe, and it still resonates here. He really helped shape the vibes,” Sellers said.
Jim “Trooper” Pompa of Soundcheck Records echoed Sellers’ thoughts. “A lot of the entertainment feel was really a major, major influence.”
When the record store left the Carbon Plaza in Lehighton and moved to Broadway 15 years ago, Hugos asked if they’d consider being a ticket venue for the Opera House. It was the beginning of a great relationship.
“I think part of our early success (at this location) was because of some of the things he did for us. I thought he was great at promotion and you could tell he loved what he did,” Pompa said.
Hugos would bring artists down for in-store signings including legendary jazz drummer Billy Cobham. When Jonathan Edwards came for his signing, he brought his guitar, and after the Wailin’ Jennys were presented a key to the town a few years back, they came over and did an impromptu acapella performance.
“He was just a good guy,” Pompa said.
Upon his retirement from the Mauch Chunk Opera House in 2022, Hugos moved to Bethlehem with his wife Nancy Zeigler, where, with his sense of humor and uncomplaining grace, he continued to work on his photography, enjoyed traveling when he could and spending time with his dear family and friends.
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