Hootin an Hollarin DVD now available
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The long-awaited video documentary, Hootin an Hollarin: A Story of the Ozarks, is now being mailed to those who pre-ordered copies last year, says Morey Sullivan of United Producers Entertainment. A limited number of the $20 video as well as the $10 soundtrack are available now at the Ozark County Times office, Century Bank of the Ozarks in Gainesville and Old Harlin House Café. Order forms are also available at those places, and the video and sound track also can be ordered through the <a href= "http://www.hootinanhollarin.com">HootinanHollarin.com</a> website.
The video includes pictures, video clips, interviews and stories compiled from archives and personal memories spanning the half-century the popular festival has been celebrated. Hootin an Hollarin, the longest continuously operated festival in Missouri, celebrated its 50th observance last September.
The soundtrack includes 10 tracts of music performed by local musicians or those who have performed at Hootin an Hollarin. The songs are either in the public domain or were written by local residents, Sullivan said.
The soundtrack music and performers are "Ozark Trail" by Tim Prososki, "Buy Stock in Heaven" by Don Sullivan, "Summer's Gone" by Big Creek, "White Rows of Stone," by Jericho, "Lady on a Steamboat" by Lonnie Robertson, "Ghost of Carney Branch" by Missouri Boat Ride, "Shuckin' the Corn" by Country Grass, "Missouri Waltz" by JD Walters and "Wildwood Flower" by Jim Parks.
Those involved in making the video were invited to a "premiere" Friday night at Century Bank. Sullivan told attendees the idea for the film began about four and a half years ago when he and Chris Harlin, talking backstage during one of the festival events, were talking about the festival's upcoming 50th anniversary. "We thought, ‘Wouldn't it be neat if there were a real Hootin an Hollarin video documenting the first 50 years?'" Sullivan said.
The result is the video that was released Friday. Proceeds will go to a Hootin an Hollarin scholarship fund set up with the Ozark County Community Foundation.
"It's our hope that the scholarship might go to someone who wants to study the Ozarks, or traditional country music, or something along those lines," said Harlin, who served as executive producer for the project. Sullivan carried out the producer's role.
The video is just over 57 minutes long, the length that is needed by the Public Broadcasting System. It is hoped the documentary will be picked up for broadcast by the PBS affiliate in Springfield, and perhaps elsewhere.
Also at Friday's premiere were videographer Tom Pike, who shot all of the recent footage included in the film, and Sullivan's daughter, Elizabeth Sullivan, who completed the editing. Sullivan's son, John, also played a part in the project, even though he's been away, working in the Peace Corps. The closing song on the video was one he wrote about the festival "while sitting on a beach in Guatemala on Thanksgiving Day," Sullivan said.
The Sullivan family has been an important part of the festival since its beginning. Morey's father, well-known country singer Don Sullivan, served as emcee for 40 years and also performed with his band. Through the years, Don sometimes brought Morey along to play in the band; Morey has been emcee for the past few years, following Don Sullivan's death in 2006
The video includes dozens of photos of Ozark County in the early 20th century, and clips of interviews with academic and professional experts who comment on the importance of Ozarkian traditions and heritage. But for most viewers, the highlights of the video are the dozens of video clips from past Hootin an Hollarin contests, parades, music and square dancing.
Interviews with "locals" tell the real story of the festival's colorful half-century, describe the importance of the Ozarks way of life and express the pride Ozark Countians feel in their pioneer history, their Ozarkian heritage and, in some cases, their appreciation for this area as newcomers. Ozark County musicians perform bits of old-time music on video.
Among those whose stories, memories and comments are shared are Elsie Ponto, Bob Sullivan, June DeWeese, Addie Lee Lister, Gainesville mayor Don Luna, John and Linda Harlin, Chris and Missy Harlin, Steve and Jenny Rackley, fiddle player H. K. Silvey, sound technician Sid Pierce, Ozark County Historium president Janet Taber, Hootin an Hollarin chairperson Nancy Walker and Ozark County Times publisher Norene Prososki.
Taber tells the story of how one of her husband's ancestors, Tom Brown, came to Ozark County from Indiana in 1845, bringing along his infant twin daughters and nestling them into a black-iron wash kettle for the long wagon ride west.
Lister, one of the festival's founders, tells a humorous story about a year when "a bunch of hippies" staged a Saturday night protest on the square, lying down across the square dance platforms, apparently upset because they were not allowed to dance as they wished.
Lister said she reported the situation to then-sheriff Herman Pierce, who told the protestors he had been called to Bakersfield and would be leaving soon. The crowd had come to see the square dancers, he told them, and he wouldn't be able to protect them from the irate farmers since he'd been called out of town.
The troublemakers quickly abandoned their protest, and the square dancing resumed, Lister said.
After seeing the video, many residents, former residents and wish-they-were residents will probably share Nancy Walker's and Janet Taber's feelings about Ozark County as they express them in the documentary.
Walker says she's "country to the core and so thankful God put me here. I wouldn't want to be anywhere else. We don't have money. What we have is beauty and a lot of hard work and warm people who care."
Janet Taber's words close out the video as she says, "I think this could be the last great place in the heart of the country. Honestly."
HH Documentary
