Hootin an Hollarin is canceled amid pandemic concerns

For the first time since its start in 1961, Gainesville’s much-loved Hootin an Hollarin festival won’t be held this year amid concerns related to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Well, if shedding tears makes a difference, I’ve shed more than a few this year,” longtime chairperson Nancy Walker said during the committee meeting Monday. “It sure isn’t an easy decision, but I think for the betterment of our county, it’s what we have to do.”

After discussing the issue for most of three hour-long committee meetings over the last month and a half, the 12 committee members at Monday’s meeting voted unanimously to cancel this year’s festival.

“There’s this little voice in here,” committee member Chris Harlin said, pointing to the back of his head, “that is telling us something, and I think we’ve all been trying to ignore that.”

“Yes, it’s called common sense,” Walker said.

“When I was a teenager, it was saying don’t do this or do that, and I ignored it. Everybody’s got that voice. I think we have to start listening to it,” Harlin said.

Back-to-school priority

Ozark County Health Department administrator Rhonda Suter attended the Hootin an Hollarin committee’s meeting to share concerns and ask committee members how they felt about the upcoming festival and what precautions could be instated if it was held.

“I just want to know what you guys think. I do have concerns,” Suter said. “I think our big thing for our county right now is trying to get our kids back in school. They need to be back in that normal environment. I know the schools are struggling, trying to get their plans together for what’s going to happen, and I said we’re just going to have to cross that bridge when we get there….”

Suter said that while she was not going to tell the committee they couldn’t hold the festival, she and the Ozark County Health Department board recommended postponing this year’s event.

“My recommendation is that no, we don’t hold it, and then hopefully next year, we have the best Hootin an Hollarin ever. When this all goes away, we’re going to be able to have a lot to celebrate,” Suter said.

“We’ve had lots of phone calls asking, ‘Why are you letting Hootin an Hollarin go on?’ and also, too, ‘Why are you allowing school to go on?’ We can’t live in fear, and we have to get back to as normal as we can,” Suter said. “But we have to be protected too because of older – well, and younger people – that may have underlying conditions you may not know about when you’re standing next to them.”

Guests from all over

“My concern is that we don’t want people coming in… and I don’t mean just coming into town together,” Suter said. “They’ll be coming from different states, all over the country. So that’s a huge concern.”

Suter said she’d also hate to take the chance of large numbers of people who attend Hootin an Hollarin later learning they’ve contracted the virus at the festival.

“Missouri is considered one of the red states now, and I know with our tourists that are currently coming in, they’re thinking, ‘Let’s go to Ozark County. They only have so many cases, and it’s a safe zone.’  We’re blessed to be in a rural area where we are smaller, and that’s probably why we don’t have as many cases, but we have to listen to that little voice and keep it that way. I think it shows we care,” she said.

‘The things that are Hootin an Hollarin’

Another aspect of the decision that was pointed out by various committee members was that the things that make Hootin an Hollarin the festival it is aren’t feasible amid the pandemic.

“There is no way to social distance while square dancing,” Nancy said. “I don’t think we could have square dancing.”

Parade organizer Kerrie Zubrod and vendor co-chair LaVese Ericksen said there would be limited numbers of school groups participating if the festival was held this year.

“From a parade standpoint, as well as with the students’ booths, besides Gainesville, I don’t have a single band that’s committed to coming – because they just don’t know,” Zubrod said. 

“The things that are Hootin an Hollarin – the square dancing, the parade, the queen pageant – just couldn’t be held like before,” Harlin said.

Increasing numbers all around us

Ericksen said that while early on she was convinced the festival should be held, the recent jump in cases in counties all around Ozark County has made her rethink that decision.

“I’m one of those that I’d like to just plow my way through… you know, we’ll work through it. But, for example, Taney Caney showed 428 [cases] yesterday. On July 18, it was 156, and that’s a big jump,” she said. “Baxter [County, Arkansas] two weeks ago was at 40; now it’s 61. Howell County was 137 whereas the 18th of July [it was] 62. Douglas County is showing 73 and on July 18, it was 22. So, you know, I’m kind of in the same boat thinking about it as the rest of you,” Ericksen said.

Suter noted that the death toll is also starting to increase. Douglas County and Howell County have reported two deaths, and Taney County has reported three. 

Walker and committee member Barbara Luna both agreed that at the last meeting, held in mid-July, they were all very much in favor of having the festival.

“But that was what? Two weeks ago, and all those numbers [in surrounding counties] have now doubled or tripled,” committee member Paula Rose said. “We were hoping they’d be coming down by now.”

Fall brings the flu

Suter pointed out that a major concern in the health field is how patients will fair if  they contract both the flu and COVID at the same time.

“They’re concerned because fall is coming. So the regular flu is coming. That’s when it starts, in that time around the holidays,” she said. “And their concern is because COVID is new, and there is no medicine…if you get the regular flu, and your body is trying to recover from that, and then you get the COVID, is your body going to be able to fight the COVID off, because it’s comprised with the flu already?”

Unable to monitor guests

Several other festivals have also canceled, including Seymour’s Apple Festival and the West Plains Old Time Music, Ozark Heritage Festival. 

Last week, the Baxter County (Ark.) Fair Board announced that the fair, normally held there around the same time as Hootin an Hollarin, would not be held this year.

The Missouri State Fair announced in mid-July that it would “pivot to [being] a youth livestock show Aug. 13-23 instead of the traditional fair. 

Walker pointed out that some of the other festivals that have continued amid concerns have had a more direct way of admitting guests who attend.

“We can’t screen [guests]. Ours isn’t like the Springfield Fair. God bless them. I hope it turns out fine,” Walker said. “They can funnel them through basically one little gate, but our little festival, people come from every direction around the square. So you very well can’t take temperatures or anything like that.” 

A citizen’s input

Ozark County Chamber of Commerce president Douglas Hawkins attended the meeting as a guest. When Walker asked Hawkins to give his opinion before the group voted, he said, “As an outside person, like I said, I don’t envy you guys for having to make this hard decision, but I think the community could use something positive, and I was really hoping Hootin an Hollarin could be that. But I totally get what you guys are talking about, wanting to protect people,” he said. 

Ericksen added that said she hated having to tell vendors another event is canceled. 

“A lot of these vendors, this is their main income, and they’ve already lost so much already. Now we have to go to them and say sorry,” she said. “But, you know, it’s a challenging year for everyone.”

Bigger and better next year

The committee agreed to come back in 2021 with a bigger-than-ever festival. Linda Harlin pointed out that when the festival is held next year, it will be the 60th festival and also the bicentennial anniversary of Missouri’s statehood, which could help develop the theme.  

“We’ve got a year to plan, a year to make something big happen, a year to pray,” Walker said. “I really just hate it. I really, really hate it. We’ve been doing this for 60 years. It’s hard to say that common sense is the best thing in life. And that’s what it is, common sense.”