'FROM PIONEER DAYS TO MODERN WAYS' The grandstands are packed during the queen's pageant, which begins with contestants taking to the dance floor. Hootin an Hollarin celebrates six decades of the Ozarks by Zach Smith | zsmith@ruralmissouri.coop n downtown Gainesville, every fall for 62 years, the sights, sounds and smells of the Ozarks have taken center stage for a festival known as Hootin an Hollarin. You can taste homemade apple butter on a slice of fresh-baked bread, cheer your pet turtle on in a race to the finish line and square dance until midnight on the courthouse square. But the heart of this three-day event are the tributes paid to the pioneers from this unique part of Missouri. SEPTEMBER 2023 | RURALMISSOURI.COOP 19 Ihttp://www.RURALMISSOURI.COOP