Taking pictures in front of the Easter Basket in Lakeview Park has long been a holiday tradition for many families. But for many years, there was another Easter tradition for many Northern Ohio families that deserves to be remembered: a visit to the huge holiday celebration held annually on the lawn of Mr. and Mrs. Walter Hipp, just outside of Norwalk.
It was actually a full-blown Easter Party – complete with an Easter egg hunt, free easter baskets, a costumed Easter Bunny and helpers, live rabbits and wonderful decorations – all free and open to the public.
The whole thing had started out as a family Easter egg hunt in 1949, a way for Mr. and Mrs. Hipp to make the holiday special for their grandchildren. But it grew into so much more, drawing visitors from well beyond Norwalk. And it was all for free.
Read all about this incredible celebration in the article below, which appeared in the Sandusky Register on April 15, 1954.
Back in the mid-1950s, my parents spent the afternoon on Easter Sunday visiting relatives in Norwalk, so a stop at the Hipp family’s Easter Party became a cherished part of the day.
My sister was only about a year and a half old when my parents took her to her first visit to the Hipp celebration in 1956. That’s Vince Hipp, Mr. Rabbit himself, holding her.
Grandma Brady made the trip to Norwalk that year as well. Here she is with my sister.
And here’s a photo from Easter Sunday 1957. This time, Dad got into the photo, posing with my sister behind the seated Vince Hipp.
And here’s my sister checking out the display of live bunnies that same year.
Beginning the next year, our family began to expand, with the addition of my older brother, then me, followed by my younger brother a few years later. The trips to Norwalk on Easter Sunday came to an end.
I’m not sure just how many years the Hipp family was able to keep their Easter Party going. But it was a wonderful gift to the community while it lasted, and a true expression of the joy and happiness associated with the meaning of the holiday.
