Lil Cedar Pete and Lil Miss Addie Lee contest is Friday

The Lil Cedar Pete and Lil Miss Addie Lee contest leads the lineup of children’s celebrity competitions, beginning at 1 p.m. Friday on the Main stage. (Sign up beside or behind the stage 15 minutes before the contest). Sponsored by the Ozark County Chamber of Commerce, the contest, for boys and girls ages 4 and 5, commemorates two of the founders of Hootin an Hollarin. Addie Lee Lister is known as the “First Lady of Hootin an Hollarin,” and credited artistic woodworker Ed Petterson with thinking up the name Hootin an Hollarin. Petterson also designed the whimsical hillbilly character Cedar Pete, who served as the festival’s first logo. 

The young contestants will be interviewed on stage by an emcee, who will gently ask them all the same questions, usually about things like their favorite color, family, animals and pets. Then she asks if they’d like to share anything else – a song, joke or story. (Someone will meet the contestants backstage before the contest to tell them what she’ll be asking and to encourage them to have fun.) 

Old-time costume is optional, but serves as a fun added element for participants.