Large crowds turn up for 63rd Hootin an Hollarin festival

The 63rd Hootin an Hollarin festival, held Sept. 19-21 on the Gainesville square, will go down in history as another wonderful display of the very best of Ozark County, when friends and neighbors gathered together to celebrate the history and heritage of this wonderful place we live. 

Despite cooler temperatures both the week before the festival and this week, the week after the fun, the festival itself saw very hot days with daytime temperatures reaching into the 90s. Luckily, those hot temperatures came with mostly sunny and clear skies, with the exception of a surprisingly intense 20-minute pop-up storm on Friday afternoon that left the streets drenched, lightning flashing in the sky and wind barrelling through the square. Vendors were quick to pull down tents and cover their inventory, and there were no major losses reported. 

Large crowds turned out all three days of the festival, and participation was high in most all festival events with a few marking record participation, said chairperson Paula Rose.

The event kicked off Thursday night with an official welcome by Gainesville Mayor Gail Reich followed by a performance of the National Anthem by GHS freshman Jessica Suit, who then took the stage with friend Ainsley Luna, a GHS seventh grader, for a few songs. Finn Wade, a Gainesville sixth grader, entertained the crowd with some violin tunes, followed by some classic country by young duo Wyatt Dodge and Colton Wood.

The headline act was the The Baker Family who played a crowd-pleasing set of bluegrass and gospel tunes. The annual queen pageant was held at 7:30 p.m. Thursday with 15 participants, more than has participated in many years. Gainesville High School student Emma Veach was crowned as this year’s Hootin an Hollarin queen. 

As the judges were tallying their votes during the queen pageant, several people were honored. Gainesville Lions Club President Corey Hillhouse recognized Pat Funk for his 50 years of membership in the Gainesville Lions Club. Hootin an Hollarin chair Paula Rose dedicated the stage to the memory of the late Dr. Bob Main, who for nearly 40 years had helped set up and take down the stage and square dance floors for the festival. The stage will be known as the Main Stage from now on in his honor.

Also, during the tallying of votes, Lions Club President Corey Hillhouse introduced the 2024 Barney Douglas Citizen of the Year, Kerrie Zubrod. Then, Paula Rose recognized the 2024 Hootin an Hollarin parade marshal, Karla Eslinger. 

The annual quilt show also opened its doors Thursday evening and welcomed spectators all three days. Sandra Stone’s “Autumn Folic” quilt won best in show, Jean Mann’s “Snow Family” quilt won judges’ choice and Beth Drobezko’s “Tous” took home the people’s choice award, voted on by the viewers of the quilt show during Hootin an Hollarin. 

Thursday night ended with the first session of square dancing with musicians playing the dancing tunes late into the night. 

Friday’s festivities began at 10 a.m. with the opening of the Shelter Insurance free kids corner, which included a special surprise this year with free balloon animals made by “Deena the Balloon Lady” from Springfield, who twisted and tied together balloons into amazing creations for just about any animal, character or other design imaginable. A heated 10:30 a.m. turtle race was also held at this time. The annual event features a large circle where contestants stand in the middle with turtles in hand and let them loose. The first turtle to reach the edge of the outer circle wins. On Friday morning, Fisher Adam took home first place with turtle Billy Bob. 

Friday’s Main Stage entertainment included performances by Homestead Holler, Molly Clair and Co. and Backyard Bluegrass. The night ended with a lively concert by the Psychobilly Cadillac Band, which had the Hootin an Hollarin crowd on their feet at the Main Stage. The Stringed Union band was scheduled to play Friday, but due to that afternoon’s storm, they were unable to perform. An afternoon gazebo pickin’ session was held in the gazebo on the courthouse lawn. 

In addition to the bands, the Hootin an Hollarin Main Stage also served as the backdrop for the annual Lil Cedar Pete and Lil Miss Addie Lee contest where 4-year-old Ripp Byrd was named Lil Cedar Pete, and 5-year-old Talitha Helminski was named Lil Miss Addie Lee. 

Following that contest, the annual princess pageants had a very large turnout of 30 girls between the three age division contests. The 2024 Lil Princess is Haven Kelley, 2024 Lil Miss is Rorie Miller and 2024 Junior Princess is Stella Solomko.

The storm also affected the free old-fashioned kids games Friday afternoon with organizers Renee Hambelton and Tammy Mitchell taking cover with participants until clear skies allowed the kids to play a hog toss and a flickin’ chicken game.

With streets still wet from rain, the bed and outhouse races were held at their usual location on the west side of the square Friday afternoon. The Gainesville High School juniors (Lyle Pippin, Owen Donley, Dawson Hewett, Brayden Miller and Macray Hambelton) secured first place in the bed race, while the Top Dog team (Trey Pendergrass, Brock Roberts, Tate Uchtman, Walker House and Thomas Latham) won the outhouse race. The GHS freshmen class (Baylor Hewett, Avery Rodrigue, Kelton Solomon, Chase Luna and Mylie Frye) won best dressed in the bed race, with the four pushers clad in overalls and plaid shirts and Kelton riding on the bed in a bull riding outfit. The team stopped mid-race, and Kelton tossed a rope around Mylie Frye before the group continued on to the finish line. 

The fourth annual Ozark County FFA Bull Blast bull riding competition was held at the extra-muddy Gainesville Saddle Club Friday night, and it drew a large crowd. Although it’s not an official Hootin an Hollarin event, the show has been held for four years on the Friday night of during Hootin an Hollarin. This year Deklan Garland brought in the highest score and won the Gainesville event.

The night ended with another session of square dancing to live music. 

Saturday morning was kicked off bright and early with the Hootin an Hollarin 5K where overall winners were Abel Parker with a time of 21:35 and Kinsen Mitchell with a time of 25:35. The event raised $1,500 for the Gainesville cross country and track teams. 

The archery and shotgun shoot, organized by Missouri Department of Conservation Agents Tom Leeker and Mark Henry, was held at its usual location across Highway 160 from the square in the lower grassy area by the creek. This year the archery high scorerers were Jarett Hogan and Jerry Moritz, who ended the competition in a tie, scoring 19 out of 20. There were 22 shooters in the shotgun competition, with several shooters winning two rounds each.

In the annual pet show, 24 participants and their owners showed up to wow the crowd. Pets included dogs, a cat, a long-haired rabbit and a chicken. The best in show award went to Phyllis Kupfer with her Irish wolfhounds Yeti and MoMo. 

The annual costume contest was up next, and 43 participants clad in a variety of interesting and pioneer-themed costumes entered the show. The best in show trophy was awarded to the Thomas sisters, Amanda, McKinley and Sutton, daughters of Markus and Ashley Thomas in their “Chikin Fer Sale” costume. 

The Shelter Insurance free kids corner was opened again Saturday morning with a variety of games and other fun, and the second terrapin race of the festival was held. In that race, Ellie Gilmore  took home the first place ribbon with her fast and furious terrapin Bob 2.0.

The second annual cornhole tournament was held at 10 a.m., and this year 13 teams participated. The winning team was Travis Woolard and Steven King of Dora.

The annual pie-baking competition had 10 entries. The grand prize-winning pie was a French Silk Pie made by John Abraham.

The Saturday Main Stage entertainment was led by a noon show by the Ridge Runner Cloggers, an energetic dance group. Other performers were Marriott Brothers, Scarlet O’Hara and Chelsey James with guest Josh Cherry. An afternoon gazebo pickin’ session was held again in the gazebo on the courthouse lawn. 

The Eric and Jaime King family was honored on stage as the 2024 Ozark County Farm Family that afternoon by the Missouri Extension office.

The big parade kicked off at 2 p.m. where the Flotsam Farm “Raising Cane” float took the grand prize. The Mountain Home (Ark.) junior high  band won first in the band competition, while the Central High School Drum & Bugle corps took home the win in the bugle corps category. 

A free magic show was held on the Main Stage after the parade, followed by the calling contests. Beth Schneider won the husband calling contest, Charlotte Hyatt won the turkey calling contest, Cora Layne Burton won the cow calling contest and Hadley Henson won the pig calling contest. 

The last session of square dancing drew an extra-large crowd and ended the night Saturday.