Hootin an Hollarin 2020 THE YEAR IT DIDN’T HAPPEN
The 2020 edition of the Hootin an Hollarin Magazine is inserted into this week’s edition of the Times. Beginning Sept. 23, the commemorative scrapbook will also be available online at ozarkcountytimes.com or for free pickup anywhere the Times is sold. Up to three scrapbooks can be mailed to the same address anywhere in the country for $5. Call the Times at 417-679-4146 to order.
The Gainesville square should be bustling with festival preparations today as this edition of the Times is being distributed. Lions Club members and Gainesville city maintenance men should be hauling bleachers down Main Street from their storage area. The stage where dozens of musical acts and heartwarming contests would soon be presented should be under construction, and the first of dozens of vendors should be appearing soon. Late his afternoon, we’ll miss seeing volunteer Bob Main out there with his hammer, pounding down every last nail on all the square dance platforms.
But not this year. For the first time since 1961, there will be no Hootin an Hollarin, and a lot of folks are really blue about that. We’re even more unhappy about the cause of the cancellation: the covid-19 virus pandemic, which has sickened and killed thousands in the U.S. and the world. As of Monday evening, no official covid-19 deaths had been reported in Ozark County, but a total of 96 residents have tested positive since June 19, when the first positive case was confirmed.
In light of the dangers and the contagiousness of the virus, the Hootin an Hollarin Committee on Aug. 3 voted unanimously – and sadly – to cancel the 2020 festival, which would have been the 60th time it’s been celebrated.
So the festival is off, but, as a consolation gift to our readers and our community, the Ozark County Times is including in this week’s edition the 2020 Hootin an Hollarin Magazine. It’s a compilation of memories and stories, plus some then-and-now photos of kids who are now adults – and adults who are now grandparents.
The festival’s history is included in the magazine, of course, along with a profile of Paul Wade, who was named by the Gainesville Lions Club as this year’s Barney Douglas Citizen of the Year. And there’s a letter from longtime Hootin an Hollarin chairperson Nancy Walker, who shares a secret many of us didn’t really want to hear.
Hootin an Hollarin is canceled this year, but the hillbilly spirit lives on, and the Hootin an Hollarin Committee is already working on making the 2021 edition of the beloved festival the best ever.
We’ll be ready!