Courtesy of Branson Daily Independent
Hollister may be hard pressed to put on the Annual Grape Festival this year, but there are beginning to be efforts to stomp out a solution. The Hollister Chamber of Commerce usually put on the event, but there have been problems within the chamber and strained relations with the City of Hollister itself.
Earlier in the week, Hollister City Administrator Rick Ziegenfuss attended a special meeting of the chamber to discuss the grape festival and attendance at that meeting was minimal by chamber members. Ziegenfuss, acting as a volunteer for the event and not in his capacity as city administrator, took charge of the meeting and skillfully maneuvered the discussion toward having the grape festival after all, but for it to be successful a lot of people will have to get involved as volunteers and do it quickly.
“We need to determine if we can do a grape and fall festival this year as we are really unsure of our funds for the project,” Ziegenfuss said. “The park board used to put it on before the chamber took over and itoriginallycost about $3,000 for the festival, but that cost grew until last year when it cost approximately $8,900. It was originally for crafters and had mostly children’s entertainment. As it matured over the years, most of the people came for the live entertainment and the children’s activities, but the crafters remained as an additional draw.
“The hardest thing about doing the festival is getting all of the crafters to commit to coming and that needs to be done right away if we want to pull this thing off,” he continued. “Last year was the best year for all of the entertainment and it would be good to get the same person back who arraigned all of that.
“The different committees would have already been meeting since February, but we are not afforded that luxury this year,” he said. “We need to get a lot of dedicated volunteers who are willing to spend a lot of time getting this thing moving or it will not happen.”
As the meeting progressed it was determined that there was approximately $9,000 in a special chamber grape festival account and that was enough to cover the festival, but sponsors were needed. “We get a lot of money from sponsors and we also get it from crafters who are paying for their booths,” Ziegenfuss said. “Knowing that there is approximately $9,000 in a special account is very refreshing but that money needs to be allocated to the committee which is in charge of the festival.”
The festival is still in question, but the potential that we could have it has improved, according to Ziegenfuss. “What we desperately need now are sponsors and a lot of dedicated volunteers,” He said Friday afternoon. “Although everything is still in question, we sure are leaning towards a yes and it is an event that should be done as we all enjoy it.”