For 9-year-old Hollister resident Natalie Schlecter, the stars
of Thursday’s Saddle Horse Show Parade weren’t the 86 businesses,
clubs, organizations and government agencies that marched.
For 9-year-old Hollister resident Natalie Schlecter, the stars of Thursday’s Saddle Horse Show Parade weren’t the 86 businesses, clubs, organizations and government agencies that marched.
“Seeing all the horses” was her highlight, all 71 stallions – more than one for each year of the 70-year-old tradition.
Schlecter was joined on the San Benito Street sidewalk by friends Desiree Troia, 9, and her sister, Christina, 11. The Troia sisters, overwhelmingly, enjoyed the parade’s equine.
Traditionally on the last Thursday in June, the parade, sponsored by the San Benito County Chamber of Commerce, sets the stage for this weekend’s Saddle Horse Show and Rodeo at Bolado Park.
“It definitely kicks it off and gets everybody in the mood,” said Theresa Kiernan, executive director of the Chamber.
The route took participants along San Benito Street from Palmtag Drive to Fifth Street.
Jackie Vosbrink, who retired this year from teaching at San Benito High School, was in the parade as a member of the Monterey search and rescue unit. She rode Leanne – her champion trick horse.
While waiting before the parade in a parking lot, Leanne – for the bitty reward of a baby carrot – smiled, lips quivering and buck teeth glaring. Leanne the trick horse then kissed Vosbrink on command and, according to Vosbrink, can also open a mailbox.
In a downtown district usually congested by cars and shoppers, the saddle horses, appropriately, once again stole the show throughout the hour-long procession.
County Clerk John Hodges – dressed in traditional cowboy apparel and lip-trimmed by his trademark curled mustache – rode his horse Jack in the parade for the 10th consecutive year.
A group of a dozen sturdy-faced cowboys known as Charros Los Amigos, with members from Monterey Bay area cities, tromped through on their horses, which performed a rhythmic display of side-steps and abrupt hops – like horses waltzing.
The Charros Los Amigos won the parade’s Best of Show, or the event’s top award. They were among first-place winners of 14 different categories scored by five judges.
Another winner of this year’s throwback weekend, Ms. San Benito Rodeo Queen Amanda Lima, also rode through on horseback. She displayed an unbending smile and the parade-standard, hand-cuffed wave.
The array of participants on horses that included Clydesdales and Belgiums were joined by community businesses and organizations transported by stage wagons, classic cars, convertibles and trucks. Cheerleaders and marching bands performed as they walked the mile-long route.
The Hollister Free Wheelers cruised to a rousing applause on their electric wheelchairs ridden during the team’s recent run to the wheelchair soccer national championship.
“You know a lot of people riding in the parade, so that makes it special,” said Betty Holt, who rode the route as a member of the Women’s Club of Hollister. “It’s fun to participate. It’s fun to advertise your club.”
But most of them, according to Hollister’s Kirk Tognazzini, also came for another reason.
“It brings a lot of people out, people you only see once a year,” said Tognazzini, who called himself a cowboy at heart.
Despite the county’s rapid changes in recent decades, this rural-town tradition is holding strong. Many long-time residents, such as Louie Sumaya, who has lived in Hollister since 1958, remember when rural living wasn’t just a theme for a weekend. It was a predominant lifestyle.
“People forget,” he said. “This is a reminder.”
The parade and the remainder of the weekend serves that educational purpose for younger generations, so they can pass on the lore of San Benito’s rural roots.
“There is always the need to remember our history, as far removed as we could possibly become,” Kiernan said.
