{"id":41203,"date":"2013-10-03T06:12:17","date_gmt":"2013-10-03T12:12:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/broadcast.branson.com\/?p=41203"},"modified":"2013-10-03T06:12:17","modified_gmt":"2013-10-03T12:12:17","slug":"grape-fall-festival-celebrates-hollister%e2%80%99s-history-of-hard-work-tourism-and-agriculture","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/broadcast.branson.com\/2013\/10\/03\/grape-fall-festival-celebrates-hollister%e2%80%99s-history-of-hard-work-tourism-and-agriculture\/","title":{"rendered":"Grape & Fall Festival Celebrates Hollister\u2019s History of Hard Work, Tourism and Agriculture"},"content":{"rendered":"

Grape Stomp a Mainstay of Annual Celebration<\/em><\/p>\n

Organizers of the annual Hollister Grape & Fall Festival are searching for adults and children not afraid to get their
\nfeet dirty.<\/p>\n

One of the highlights of the Hollister Area Chamber of Commerce\u2019s annual festival is the grape stomp, when teams of four slip off their comfortable shoes and slip into vats filled with fresh ripe grapes. They then dance, prance and stomp to their favorite tunes, all while vying for the day\u2019s top prize, the traveling Ugly Monkey Trophy and bragging rights. Comedian and ventriloquist Jim Barber will emcee the stomp. Barber, co-star of the \u201cHamner Barber Variety Show,\u201d has performed on \u201cThe Late Show with David Letterman.\u201d<\/p>\n

While the grape stomp competition leaves people rolling in their seats, the contest actually has historical roots.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Grape & Fall Festival was first known as the Grape Carnival and was celebrated each fall, for a period that lasted about three decades, in the early 20th century,\u201d said Hollister City Administrator Rick Ziegenfuss. \u201cThe carnival served as a chance for local residents and their guests to celebrate another year of hard work and success in an Ozarks agricultural\u2014and tourism\u2014based community. As Hollister faced the challenges of post-depression America, floods and World War II, the community turned its attention to more immediate priorities and the festival was forgone.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the 1990s, interested residents, the Hollister chamber of commerce and the city of Hollister once again turned to what is now known as the Grape & Fall Festival for many of the same reasons as it original organizers. To this day, the festival offers residents and guests the chance to celebrate another year of hard work and progress in Hollister.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ziegenfuss said because the Grape Carnival called attention to the area vineyards, it only seemed natural to include a fun, grape-based event in the festival\u2019s second life, thus the grape stomp was born.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter the first grape stomp, it became apparent that it was an event that was here to stay,\u201d he said. \u201cStomp teams of all ages excite the judges and the crowd into an event high that generates comments, long after the event has ended.\u201d<\/p>\n

The tradition continues this year Saturday, October 12, when the Hollister Area Chamber of Commerce will once again host Hollister\u2019s Grape & Fall Festival from 10:00 a.m.\u2013 10:00 p.m. on Downing Street. The day will include food and craft vendors, entertainment, children\u2019s activities and, of course, the grape stomp. To get things started this year, organizers have incorporated the first Color Me Grape 5K Color Fun Run, which begins at 9:00 A.M.<\/p>\n

The Hollister Area Chamber of Commerce is currently taking applications for grape stomp teams, event sponsors, crafters, food vendors and area businesses who would like to take part in the annual event celebrating Hollister\u2019s
\nrich history.<\/p>\n

Businesses, non-profits and crafters wanting to exhibit may call Debbie Redford at 417.332.7246. Food vendors are asked to call Jerry Shackette at 417.598.9731. Businesses interested in becoming a Grape & Fall Festival sponsor may call D. Todd Aeschliman at 417.294.5050 or visit HollisterChamber.Net. To register a grape stomp team or find out more information about the grape stomp, call Laurie Hayes at 417-559-3869.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Grape Stomp a Mainstay of Annual Celebration Organizers of the annual Hollister Grape & Fall Festival are searching for adults and children not afraid to get their feet dirty. One of the highlights of the Hollister Area Chamber of Commerce\u2019s annual festival is the grape stomp, when teams of four slip off their comfortable shoes […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_s2mail":"yes"},"categories":[12,22,7,11],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/broadcast.branson.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41203"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/broadcast.branson.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/broadcast.branson.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/broadcast.branson.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/broadcast.branson.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=41203"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/broadcast.branson.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41203\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/broadcast.branson.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41203"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/broadcast.branson.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41203"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/broadcast.branson.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41203"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}