With Easter just around the corner, I was reminded of another Easter celebration not so many years ago that still makes me laugh.
During the Easter and St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Asheville in 1986, there was a big ruckus about the Easter Bunny. Carolina Costume Co. had numerous characters lined up in the parade when a police officer came up to the Easter Bunny and said it was illegal to wear a mask in public.
At first, I thought it was a joke, but nope, he was serious. My warrioress skills came into play when I was told mask wearing was a subversive activity. I gathered my crew to create a campaign to welcome the Easter Bunny to Asheville.
We started with a spontaneous photo shoot of Keystone Kops handcuffing the Bunny. The Easter Bunny, wearing giant red sunglasses over his mask, showed up around town pretending to hide. The large sign we installed on Broadway said, “Easter Bunny Wants to Hide Eggs, Not His Face.” The Bunny peeked out behind the sign while cars drove by as people slowed down to gander at the shenanigans.
We sent an invitation to the mayor to welcome the Easter Bunny to town. When it received no response, I planned a demonstration in front of City Hall and notified the media. Young Transportation donated an air-conditioned bus to the cause, and we utilized every seat. Numerous friends, along with my crew, costumed up and boarded the buses. When we arrived downtown, there were crowds, media, cameras and police already gathered.
Signs featuring our slogan waved outside the city building. Cameras flashed and videos rolled as we disembarked from the buses. The Easter Bunny in sunglasses wearing a ball and chain was the last to appear. As he peeked out of the bus, cheers from my crew and the crowd beckoned him to come out. The crowd chanted, “Free the Easter Bunny! Free the Easter Bunny!”
Was it sheer embarrassment that impelled the mayor to come out? Along with the police chief, he ended up giving a brief but grand welcome statement to the media. The law, which was a leftover from an old Ku Klux Klan concern, now contains an exemption for people wearing traditional holiday costumes in season. The issue was dropped, and Asheville’s masked holiday characters were free.
— Valerie Naiman
Asheville
Valerie Naiman opened Asheville’s Carolina Costume Co. in 1980 and a sister business, Acts for Hire, that provided fun character balloon deliveries around town. She’s now an author, and you can catch up with her at valerienaiman.com.
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