I just wanted to take the time to thank the people of Hollister
for showing myself and my girlfriend Stella Roberts (Miss Hollister
2004) one of the best July 4th holiday weekends of our lives.
Dear Editor:
I just wanted to take the time to thank the people of Hollister for showing myself and my girlfriend Stella Roberts (Miss Hollister 2004) one of the best July 4th holiday weekends of our lives. I have been coming down to Hollister on my bike since 1997 when you had the 50th Anniversary of “The Wild One,” and every year it has gotten better and better.
After winning the bikini contest, we were treated like celebs by everyone we encountered and Stella could hardly walk through the crowd without being stopped for photo opportunities. We partied at The Vault Saturday night in celebration of her win and danced until midnight.
But it is the spirit of the locals that I applaud. She needed a place to change and a local print shop gave her the privacy to do it. We also had no reservation to stay overnight and another local woman overheard and immediately offered an empty guest room to us with no hesitation. Needless to say, we made new friends as a result. Even the bikers who stopped Stella every few minutes to talk to her about the contest were polite and friendly. The shop owners who contributed gifts to the winner were overflowing with congratulations.
For me personally, I was especially moved by the irony of the death of Marlon Brando. Here we were at the very place that “The Wild One” was based on and he dies when the event had just started! Then, two days later, I’m standing in the crowd at a bikini contest yelling “STELLLLLLLLLLLLLAAAAAAAAAAAAA” like he did in the movie “A Streetcar Named Desire.” And sure enough, Stella wins the contest! Well, there was only one thing left to do. So I took the trophy and put it on my bike with Stella behind me and photographed it. And for one moment in my life, I felt a little like Marlon Brando, except if they ever made a movie about it, the appropriate title would be “The Mild One.”
Thanks and we’ll see you next year!
David Millman,
San Francisco
