The throaty roar of motorcycle engines reverberating off the
sun-baked streets of Hollister began to die down Monday after three
days filled with the smell of exhaust fumes, fried food and a
carnival-like atmosphere only the Hollister Independence Rally can
provide.
n Erin Musgrave Staff Writer
Hollister – The throaty roar of motorcycle engines reverberating off the sun-baked streets of Hollister began to die down Monday after three days filled with the smell of exhaust fumes, fried food and a carnival-like atmosphere only the Hollister Independence Rally can provide.
The throngs of people teeming along San Benito Street seemed happy to be enjoying the beautiful weather, phenomenal bikes and scantily-clad women prancing down the streets or strutting their stuff on various stages. The leather-clad hordes – smaller than last year’s 120,00 by preliminary police estimates, but at least the same size according to Rally organizers who cleaned up all the trash – came from all across the country to revel in Hollister’s biker mystique, look at the flashing chrome and have a good time.
Every so often, the girls of the Leather & Lace Show would pose for pictures in front of Boutique De Lingerie on Seventh Street, congesting the crowd and blinding patrons with camera flashes.
Frothy beer at the Hollister Independence Rally Committee’s beer garden, the various bands gracing the Sixth Street Stage and events such as the Wall of Death, drew just as much attention as the bikini contest with its buxom contestants, or the food tents with their tri-tip, sausages and other meaty delights.
About 7pm Saturday, a group of between 20 to 30 members of the Mongols outlaw motorcycle club, who have had an ongoing feud with the Hells Angels, walked around downtown, escorted by about 40 cops flanking them on each side, according to Hollister Police Chief Jeff Miller. Law enforcement feared there could be a confrontation between the groups this year and were out in full force in an attempt to curtail any problems. Although the groups had a verbal confrontation near Monterey and Sixth streets, officers stayed between them and nothing physical materialized.
Ancelet said the incident wasn’t worrisome to him, but the fact that it looked like the groups were “squaring off” was intimidating.
And while some people just came to ogle the thousands of people, others came to decorate their bodies with tattoos or piercings.
Joe Aguilar, owner of Metropolis tattoo parlor, said his staff inked about 40 tattoos and the same number of piercings over the weekend. Frankie Fumano, an artist at Metropolis, said his vote for best tattoo went to a young girl who received her very first tattoo and piercing Saturday.
But tattoo artists were only a small percentage of the 210 vendors present hawking their wares, cajoling people into their tents to check out their merchandise.
Vendors lined the streets, selling everything from leather chaps to saunas to legal advice, and raked in the cash from the thousands of people who migrated to the downtown area for the holiday weekend.
Although the Hollister Independence Rally Committee won’t have concrete numbers on how many were in attendance or whether the organization will end up in the black financially, President Dave Ventura said this year was at least as big as last year, if not bigger.
Police estimated the crowd didn’t reach the record-breaking numbers of last year’s 120,000, but Ventura said he believes it will at least break even attendance-wise. And due to a new system put in place for vendors, he said HIRC should make some money off the ninth annual event.
This year all the vendors who set up shop on city property had to fill out governmental forms so the state can trace the money they generated if questions arise when they report how much money they brought in. In the past Ventura said some vendors would skim money off the top, bringing down the amount HIRC and the city would receive in sales tax dollars.
“It (skimming) is always going to happen when you’re dealing with so much cash,” Ventura said. “But submitting forms to the Board of Equalization makes it easier to track the money coming into our area.”
