Local Events

The Theodosia Area Volunteer Fire Department annual meeting of the members will be held at 6 p.m. Thursday,  Sept. 27, at the main fire house in Theodosia. Refreshments will be served. Votes for a new board member will be counted from paid memberships who have returned their ballots. A request for...

Demonstrators from past years’ festivals included Jim Mahan of West Plains, shown here carving faces into wooden canes at his booth in 2015. Jim said it took him about 20 to 30 minutes to finish the intricate faces on each cane. Ozark County Times file photo.
 By tradition, Hootin an Hollarin celebrates the “olden ways of olden days,” and several demonstrators are scheduled to show the crafts, methods and techniques of yesteryear.  In the Century Bank parking lot, Lynn and Charlotte Taylor of Tecumseh will demonstrate making shingles and rope, and they...

Olivia Vega had a little moral support from her pug dog during her time on stage in the 2017 calling contests.
Come on down to the square around 4 p.m. Saturday, and you might be surprised by the crazy sounds coming from the main stage. Don’t be alarmed.  It’s Hootin an Hollarin’s famous calling contests! Enjoy the fun as contestants yip, yell, yelp and (of course!) hoot and hollar to bring home the herd,...

Running Wild BBQ, a new vendor at Hootin an Hollarin this year, is serving up whole roasted turkey legs, smoked beef, chicken and pork and their signature loaded fries (served with sharp cheese and your choice of meat). If you want to really do it up good, ask for your loaded fries to be served “Ozark style,” and you’ll get a healthy topping of coleslaw and baked beans right on top.
(See page 59 of the Hootin an Hollarin festival guide for a map detailing vendors locations.) One of the best things about any festival is the food, and Hootin an Hollarin is no exception. This year's lineup will include main dishes from a variety of different merchants including a new vendor,...

The Ava Art Guild members’ elaborately painted gourds are popular items each year in their Hootin an Hollarin booth.
Vendor and booth chairpersons LaVese Ericksen and Barbara Luna say the Hootin an Hollarin committee has had their ears open to suggestions from past festival-goers. In response, this year’s event will include 12 new vendors!   Crafts and handmade items As always, handmade items and craft booths...

In the early years, area blacksmiths, including Isaac Doss, shown here in an undated photo, would sometimes set up their anvils, forges and other blacksmithing equipment on the Gainesville square to demonstrate the old-time ways.
A week after Gainesville’s first Hootin an Hollarin in 1961, the Ozark County Times reported, “Ozark County festival draws largest crowds in years; may become annual event.” That was Nov. 2, 1961, and Hootin an Hollarin has been drawing large crowds to the Gainesville square every fall since then...
The woman known as the “First Lady of Hootin an Hollarin,” Addie Lee Lister, died Aug. 23, 2017, at the age of 100 in Prairie Village, Kansas. She was born July 4, 1917, in Calvert, Texas, and grew up in Fayetteville, Arkansas. She taught elementary school in Winslow, Arkansas, which was located...

Gainesville maintenance supervisor William Walrath, 2018 Hootin an Hollarin Parade Marshal, spreads salt on Gainesville sidewalks during a 2011 snowstorm.
William Walrath, the 2018 Hootin an Hollarin Parade Marshal, has seen a lot of changes since he first started working for the city of Gainesville in July 1975. Reminiscing recently, William, now Gainesville’s maintenance supervisor, said he’s worked for “a bunch of mayors and fill-ins,” including...

A lineup of antique tractors is a fun addition to the floats, cars and other entries in each year’s H&H parade.
Gainesville’s population swells from a few hundred to a few thousand on Saturday afternoon of Hootin an Hollarin as spectators line the streets when the Big Parade steps off at 2 p.m. This year’s lineup promises to be another crowd pleaser, with marching bands, floats, antique cars and all sorts of...

Pie contest coordinator Betsy Ritchie poses with the array of pies submitted for the 2017 Hootin an Hollarin pie contest.
The 2018 Hootin an Hollarin pie contest will be held at 11 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 22, in the Shelter Insurance office on Third Street just west of the square. Area bakers are invited to show off their pie-baking skills, but they’re reminded that only pies that don’t require refrigeration may be...

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Ozark County Times

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