A Very Newellian Easter: The Return of a Hollywood Heights Tradition Signals a New Normal

You know life is getting back to normal when Hollywood Heights celebrates Easter. This eclectic little neighborhood in East Dallas is where I live, and our holiday celebrations are legendary. When the pandemic struck last March, we all hit the hold button, which was especially difficult for Hollywood Heights.

A Sense of Home And Community

I moved here in 1990 as a newlywed in search of a home that I’d live in forever.  As a child of military parents, I spent my formative years traveling the world, a new country, and a new house every three years. It was exciting and exhilarating but left me with a longing for permanency for my own little family.

The military upbringing ingrained a sense of community in me, so when I began my home search, that concept was paramount. I’ve said it before and will continue to say it — Hollywood Heights is like an airbase. Neighbors help each other.  They know the name of your dogs and will take in escape artists until you get back home. They also understand an excellent party beats everything and the tradition of holiday events knit us together as a community.

When Liz Simmons, our neighborhood social director, stuck a flyer in my mailbox saying the Easter Parade was ON, I felt like a kid on Christmas morning!

I even called her to make sure because we are a super responsible neighborhood.

During the scary, early days of the pandemic, when we wondered if any of us would survive, everyone went out daily at 5 p.m., waved, and talked across the street. Our front yards became social hubs, with Adirondack chairs in a circle 6 feet apart and everyone bringing a cooler of adult beverages. 

We were NOT going to stop socializing, but we were determined to be safe. The parents created innovative treasure hunts for the kids, and the kids lifted us all with chalk drawings on the sidewalks. It was a strange but somewhat wonderful time. 

Coming Out of The Shadows of a Pandemic

Hollywood Heights is a neighborhood built around holiday traditions, and we’ve sorely missed them. There was no Easter parade last year, no Halloween party, no Clydesdale horse-drawn caroling at Christmas. We were still together but in a weird way.

So, the Hollywood Heights Easter celebration was significant this year. It was a milestone, coming out of a year in the shadows. Quite simply, it brought back community.

I must admit I thought twice about attending. But, I’ve long been vaccinated, so has my son, so have a ton of my neighbors.

We grabbed our masks and walked to Newell Street. It was packed, the DJ was spinning great tunes, and people were laughing and dancing. It was almost normal — almost because there were plenty of masks present. There was an incredibly gracious attitude with people making room and distancing where they felt necessary. 

There were concessions, of course. This year, there was no food and no Easter egg hunt. Our neighborhood did an official Hollywood Santa Monica Neighborhood Association egg hand-out, but to be clear, this celebration was not a function of the neighborhood association. It was privately funded and organized.  

And it was a blast.

I asked several folks why this was such an important event and why they attended.

Like everyone else, I’ve experienced a loss of community, so re-establishing that sense of community is as essential as oxygen. This was an opportunity to do that. As someone that grew up in this neighborhood, attending this event every year, it was comforting.

–Rowan Barcham, musician and Hollywood Heights resident.

We’ve been vaccinated, we wore masks, and it was outside. We love the parade. It reflects the eclectic nature of our neighborhood, and it’s important to finally be able to express that. I would guess because of the nature of this neighborhood, intelligent people that are responsible, the vast majority of people attending are probably vaccinated. (Indeed, the neighborhood was opened by zip code to the vaccine in mid-March).

—Mark Landson Hollywood Heights neighbor and founder of Open Classical

We were all vaccinated and on a float with gorilla masks on! Our attendance was one hundred percent because we had been vaccinated. We committed to this parade long ago when we all bought goofy gorilla suits!

—Mary Preussel, Forest Hills

“The pandemic was an interruption to our annual plans. The Hollywood Heights Easter parade gives us a chance to get together as friends in a highly unusual neighborhood. We get to hang out with an interesting crowd.

—Vince Poscente, Forest Hills

I think T’eecia Applewhite from Buckner Terrace, who was one of the goofy gorillas, summed it up for all of us:

“Vaccination rules the nation. Social distance is the business!”

Here’s to getting back to a new normal!