Alliance's Milton Street continues Easter decoration tradition

ALLIANCE − An Easter tradition that dates back almost 70 years returns Sunday on Milton Street.

Members of the Milton Street Garden Club and other volunteers will display colorful Easter decorations on 14 grassy islands in the middle of the street. Club members and some Easter characters will be on hand for the event that runs noon to 4 p.m.

"The kids just love it," said Deb England, a garden club member.

Another member, Debbie Weibush, added: "They do. We have adults, who are like, 'I've been doing this my whole life and every year this is our annual tradition.'"

The Easter island displays draw 500 to 600 people annually. The decorations include colorful eggs, baskets, bunnies and butterflies. An Easter Bunny will be there, and candy will be passed out to children.

Beth Simbro, another club member, has dressed as the bunny for several years.

"It's so fun and super cute to me," she said. "Sometimes, it's the first Easter bunny little kids will see, and just to interact with them is wonderful."

Milton Street's Easter tradition has been a happening since the late 1950s. The club skipped 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Families on the street adopt an island and take charge of decorating for Easter Sunday.

If someone moves, Weibush said the decorations at that house become part of the sale, in hopes the new owners will participate. But she said participation in the tradition is shrinking and decorators are getting older, so the group is relying on more outside volunteers.

England said they need younger members, like Simbro, to keep the tradition alive another 50 years. "We have two," she said.

The other is Misty Housego. She has younger children, who she said help put up the decorations.

"And tear them down," Housego said with a chuckle.

The displays are only up for one day.

Reach Benjamin Duer at 330-580-8567 or [email protected]. On Twitter: @bduerREP