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Previous Issues > October 2006 > What's It Like To BE... > What's It Like To BE.... A Hollerin' Champ?
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 What's It Like To Be...
What's It Like To Be.... A Hollerin' Champ?
October is a great time to get out of the house and go to a pumpkin patch or corn maze. Did you know that way back when, people that lived on farms used hollering to communicate to each other, to their neighbors, and to their farm animals? Different calls were used to call in the livestock, to announce that dinner was ready, or to let the neighbors know that something was wrong and help was needed. Every year in Spiveys Corner, North Carolina, they celebrate the lost art of hollerin. We met up with sister and brother Ivy and Nick Hinson, who were the Junior and Teen Champions at this years 38th Annual Hollerin Contest. Ivy is 10 years old, and Nick is 14 years old.
TRUMAN: What does it take to become a hollerin champ?
IVY: You have to have really strong lungs and try your best.
TRUMAN: How did you get into hollerin?
IVY: I heard an impersonator of Minnie Pearl and her howdy. I started doing that a lot, and my aunt suggested that I do the Spiveys Corner hollerin contest.
TRUMAN: What exactly do you do at a hollerin contest?
IVY: At the hollerin contest there are four divisions: Junior, Teen, Women, and Men. They split up into groups, and you do your best call.
TRUMAN: What do you like the most about being a hollerin champ? Are you famous?
IVY: Sometimes it feels like it. I just like being able to get the trophies.
TRUMAN: What do you like the least?
IVY: I dont like when my voice cracks and my throat hurts. I have to practice a lot, especially right before the contest.
TRUMAN: What did you win at the contest?
IVY: The first year I won a trophy and a trip to the David Letterman show. This time I won a trophy and a skit for the Megan Mulally Show from Los Angeles.
TRUMAN: So, is it quiet around your house, or is there a lot of hollerin going on?
IVY: Every once in a while, my brother and I yell at each other, but not very much.
TRUMAN: Whats your favorite subject at school?
IVY: Art. Im not really a good drawer, but I like to create things and paint.
TRUMAN: What is your favorite book?
IVY: The whole Junie B. Jones series.
TRUMAN: What advice would you give to other kids who want to try to be in a hollerin contest?
IVY: You have to learn what different hollers there are before you can really get into it. You have to practice and have really strong lungs.
TRUMAN: Thanks, Ivy for talking to us. Maybe next year we can come to the contest and hear you holler!
TRUMAN: What does it take to become a hollerin champ?
NICK: You have to be brave so you can get on stage. Theres like 4000 people there.
TRUMAN: How did you get into hollerin?
NICK: It was more on a dare than anything. I was making fun of my sister, and they dared me to do it. Ive only done it this one time.
TRUMAN: What exactly do you do at a hollerin contest?
NICK: You tell about your family and how they used to use hollerin on the farm and how you still use hollerin on the farm. Grandma, Grandpa, Papa and my other Grandma all used different calls. Everybody has a different call.
TRUMAN: What do you like the most about being a hollerin champ?
NICK: Not really that much. The only reason I did it was because my mom was paying me. We have a contract written on a napkin she paid me $40 just to do it.
TRUMAN: What do you like the least?
NICK: I dont really dislike anything, except being in the papers and stuff, and being on TV.
TRUMAN: What did you win at the contest?
NICK: A trophy and the $40.
TRUMAN: So, are you going to do it again?
NICK: Probably not.
TRUMAN: Ivy says theres not too much hollerin going on at your house.
NICK: A lot of yelling but not hollering. We fight a lot.
TRUMAN: Whats your favorite subject at school?
NICK: Gym. I like to play football and basketball.
TRUMAN: What is your favorite book?
NICK: The Shawshank Redemption.
TRUMAN: What advice would you give to other kids who want to try to be in a hollerin contest?
NICK: Make your mom pay you to do it. Talk a deal with your mom or dad, so even if you dont win, you get something out of it.
TRUMAN: Thanks, Nick, for talking to Kidsville News!
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