A total of 206 cars were exhibited at the 29th Annual Street Festival and Car Show, which packed Hollister’s San Benito Street with summer sights, fun, and activity. The Hollister Downtown Association event also featured live music from four bands, performances by nine music and dance groups, a chili cook-off, a kid’s zone, free watermelon, and 63 vendor and info booths.
Events Coordinator Teri Escamilla said that turnout for the event has typically in the range of 6,000 to 8,000 people, and this year’s turnout looked to be much like last year’s. For comparison, she said last year there were 207 cars entered.
“I particularly love the event. The cars are exciting,” said Escamilla. “Many of these people you see out here come back year after year. They come with their friends, show up in line at that exact moment so they can park together, and hang out.” She added, “They’re excited to come back.”
This year’s Best in Show winners of the car show were Joann and Ron Berti, of Pacific Grove, who brought a 1932 Ford Sedan. The bright yellow vehicle stood out among the other cars, including the winners of the show’s 17 categories.
“I’m very excited,” said Joann Berti of her reaction to winning. “We have two cars, one his and one mine.” Joann had an arm injury that prevented her from driving her Ford, which almost prevented them from coming to the show. However, the couple made the trip for their fourth year in a row. “This is the first time I let him drive it,” she explained.
“It drove just like a new car,” said Ron Berti of their trip from the Monterey Peninsula to Hollister. “We got all sorts of waves on the highway.” He added, “We’ve been coming here for four years now, and there’s always been some nice cars that they picked out.”
This is the first win for the two. They said the Ford was an original car that had been chopped down and then rebuilt 26 years ago. They bought it five years ago for Joann’s birthday and she changed the interior to a retro feel.
“The outside of the car is absolutely gorgeous. But the whole interior of the car was really torn up and old,” said Joann. “Before everything was digital, and now it’s all standard gauges. It’s my baby now.”
The show was judged by 12 judges, led my Noel Provost.
“I really appreciate the integrity of our judges,” said Escamilla. “This year, a new judge suggested they put a green sticker on each car after they’ve been looked at, so that each person knew their car was looked at.”
This year’s car show portion of the event had two new categories: lowrider car and lowrider truck.
“Hollister has traditionally been a lowrider town, so it was great to have that element be a part of the show today,” said Escamilla.
In addition to the car show categories, there were other firsts for the event. The kid’s zone featured a rock climbing area.
Regarding the rock wall, Escamilla said, “It’s a normal part of the weekly farmer’s market, but the first time we’ve had it in the kid’s zone for the street festival. It’s a fun thing for the kids.”
The new chili cook-off was also popular for its first year. The two new aspects of the festival intertwined in an unexpected way when the judged portion of the cook-off led to a surprise tie-breaker between two entrants, CalFire Santa Clara of Pacheco Pass Station and San Benito County Sheriff’s Department.
“Their recipe for chili was so good, it was a tie,” said Hollister Fire Chief Bob Martin Del Campo. “With Type A personalities, we don’t live by ties. So the tie-breaker was, first one up the rock wall, and down, wins.”
CalFire Captain Herb Alpers rushed up the rock climb against Sheriff Deputy Rick Uribe. Alpers won the tie-breaker climb, resulting in a CalFire win.
“I was a little bit nervous,” said Alpers. “I usually hike up hills with the hose on my back. I usually don’t climb like that.” When asked if his firefighting skills may have helped, he answered, “We do rappelling and rope a lot so I’m sure that came into play today.”
“It was fun and all for a good cause,” said Uribe. “I thought I could do it with my shoes off, and apparently I couldn’t.
Both agencies noted having return tasters throughout the cook-off. While Alpers said their recipe was a secret, Uribe said the deputies “threw it all together” as their method for winning. “We knew what we wanted to put in, but we didn’t follow measurements of anything like that,” Uribe added.
The chili cook-off was held to raise money for the Tony Aguirre Scholarship Foundation. Martin Del Campo said the charity was named after “one of our last fire chiefs that we had lost about five years ago.” He went on to explain, “What that scholarship foundation does, it provides funds for high school graduates that want to become public safety officers. That means law enforcement, SO, police, and firefighters and EMTs. That’s a big step in a big direction.”
People’s Choice, Hollister Fire Department; Best Booth, Hollister Fire Department; First Place, CalFire Santa Clara unit; Second Place, San Benito County Sheriff’s Department; and Third Place, Hollister Fire Department.
A new fire engine awaited anyone who went near the kids’ zone or chili cook-off area, a Type 6 wildland fire engine. Families were able to come up and inspect the smaller-sized firefighting vehicle. The most popular part of the tours were when children were allowed to shoot the water hose.
“We’re letting kids come out and give them some knowledge and experience,” said Vincent Munoz of the Hollister Fire Department. “Shoot some water and enjoy the day.” He added, “Kids and families are really excited to see it out here.”
The engine, with a 250-gallon water tank, is not in service with the fire department yet. “It’s a brand new engine and we thought we’d bring it out,” said Munoz.
When asked about the vehicle’s role within the department, Mel Nielsen said, “It’s for brush fires, mobile attack. The inside has a joystick so the driver doesn’t have to get out into dangerous situations. They can lay some water down on the ground for a wildland fire.”
Regarding the tours and chance to shoot water at a cutout fire target, Nielsen said, “It lets the kids experience on a small scale what it’s like to hold the fire hose, and they loved it.” The target was sat atop a collection bucket, to be put back into the truck’s pump and ensure wasted water was minimized.
The entertainment attractions, located at opposite ends of the event, attracted viewers throughout the six hours of the festival.
“We had four live bands on the main stage,” said Escamilla of the main musical portion at the north end. The bands were: Change in the Weather, Kevin Hamm with Straight Shot, Straight Shot with Mississippi Slide, and Moon Dance.
The south end of the event featured nine performance community groups: Hollister Junior Summer Music Company, San Benito Dance Academy, Itzpaplotl Aztec Dancers, West Coast Dance/Limelight Performing Arts Academy, Velocity Dance Team, Folklorico Juvenil de Lucy Rodriguez, Mr. O’s Academy, Animation Dance Community, and Hula Halau ‘O Pi’ilani. “They sounded great,” said Escamilla of the Music Company’s performance when she caught it. She added that the family and community spectators for all the groups were good to see. “It’s great community support.”
The hot summer day kept the food vendors busy, but one crowded area was the free watermelon booth on the southern end of the event. Volunteers from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints chopped up and handed out free watermelon slices to anyone who came to the booth. “We have eight full-time missionaries here all day,” said Ken DeHaan, who said an overall crew of 25 worked the booth all day. “We had three pallets that are donated, and we hand out watermelon until it’s gone. We keep the watermelon on ice and it’s cold. It’s something that most people enjoy in the summertime.” He noted some people were shy, and he and others at the booth had to go carnival barker-style to announce the free, icy treats.
“I was able to be at the first event, in 1989,” said Escamilla. “I was working as a retail store downtown.” She went on to say, “The watermelon was a draw then and it’s still a draw now.” The three bins of watermelon were donated by Swank Farms, Tonascia Farms, and Phil Foster Farms.
When asked about other popular areas, Escamilla said, “This is the second year the Marines came. They encourage people to come and do pull-ups.”
“It’s a wonderful community event,” said Escamilla of the street festival. “I love seeing the smiling faces and everyone happy. We’re always looking to improve, but we’re happy to have that continual good feeling that’s there.”
Additional winners from the car show categories were: Antique, pre-1930, Randy Griffith; Best Corvette, Mike Cunningham Honorary, Mary Pellissier; Best Low Rider Car, Sergio Torres; Best Mustang, Johnnie Marfia Memorial, Armond Mesa; Best Paint, Raymond Barba; Car Club with most participation, Nor Cal B-Bodies; Classic, 1961-1975, Bryan Friend; Custom Modified, Larry Blevins; Longest Distance Traveled, William Rice from Peyton, Colorado; Martha de la Rosa Memorial, Gabino Vargas; Modern, 1976-present, Steve Caposio; Muscle, pre-1973, Dave Painter; People’s Choice, Jim Bassinger; Pick Up, Jim Bassinger; and Vintage, 1931-1960, Ron Van Snoosten.