Promoter aims to make biker rally more family friendly
In another move to make the Hollister Motorcycle Rally more family friendly, the Miss Hollister Rally beauty pageant has been canceled by promoter Seth Doulton.
According to Horse Power Promotions spokeswoman Bri Rodriguez, the move was made by Doulton after last year’s contestants proved difficult to keep under control.
“Seth just didn’t want to deal with the girls this year,” Rodriguez said. “We didn’t get enough entries last year and the girls get really ruthless. And with the kids coming, he just wanted to avoid it.”
Doulton on Thursday said he was too busy to comment on the contest’s cancellation.
Meanwhile, local residents and visitors said they looked at the cancellation as one more way that organizers have “watered down” the rally.
“They keep just taking more and more away,” said Damon Gratz, owner of Blackout Window Tinting in Hollister. “I have cousins who come all the way out here just to see the beauty contest.”
The pageant in years past has featured a dance competition as well as a question-and-answer session. Last year, 40-year-old Jennifer Riggs won the contest, beating out 12 other women when she did a pseudo-strip tease to Rob Zombie’s cover of George Clinton’s “Brick House.”
Randall Crane, who was visiting from Fairfield, agreed with Gratz, calling beauty contests “good, clean fun.”
“Bikers get a bad rep because they hoot and holler, but in the end it’s just fun,” he said.
