Easter 2016
LAS CRUCES – A garden of pretty pastel little dresses blooms
in a superstore lobby, awaiting small girls and an Easter parade. A tiny tot in
a gentleman shirt with vest and bow tie picks up his bunny basket and gets ready for an egg hunt.
All over the Mesilla Valley, kids, parents and grandparents
are planning family gatherings, meals and church visits on Easter Sunday.
Styles change and customs evolve, but whatever your
religious preference, spring is a time for rebirth, new perspective and often, a
brand new outfit.
Memories of what we wore on other special childhood
occasions, like Christmas, may be blurred or overshadowed by visits from Santa
or favorite gifts. Our first memorable fashion statements, for many of us, were
made in the spring, and we retain vivid memories of those outfits and the fun
of getting dressed up.
Tiger Elliott, assistant manager at Kmart in Las Cruces,
surveyed the store’s selection of dress-up clothing for little boys and
recalled his own first spring stylish moments, when he was growing up in
Gallup, N.M.
“I had a black, three-piece suit, with a blue shirt and tie.
I remember it very well. I think I was about 5,” Elliott said.
“I remember a spring outfit with gloves, and I had an Easter
bonnet and a little fur muff. I called it a muffin. I was very young,” said Sue
Moore of Las Cruces.
Dressing a child for Easter may not take it a village, but
it is often a pleasurable process and labor of love that involves fond
memories, sometimes for three or four generations.
Memorable history was in the process of repeating itself for
Minerva Gabaldon, who checked out a selection that included frilly pink,
yellow, aqua and blue dresses as she searched for perfect choices for her
granddaughters, Abigail, 4 and baby Sophia.
“I’m trying to find just the right ones. I remember having a
beautiful little pink dress. It had three ruffles and little white daisies,”
said Gabaldon, glancing over to a checkout line where her husband was guiding
the wheelchair of Gabaldon’s mother. There were two, pretty little pink
dresses, hanging from the wheelchair’s armrest.
Parental rather than personal Easter outfit memories are
dominant for Scott Patterson, Las Cruces Kmart manager.
“I remember dressing up our two girls, or I should say, my
wife dressed them up. They were afraid if I got involved, I’d add football
cleats to whatever they were wearing,” Patterson quipped.
The quest for the perfect Easter bonnet, with all the frills
upon it, may be a thing of the past, giving way to glittered pink baseball caps
or trendy hair accessories.
But chic seasonal chapeaux live on in the memory of Rhona
Holden of Las Cruces.
“I remember having the pretty little white hat, and the
pretty little frilly dress and the big ‘ole basket to get all the eggs,” Holden
said.
A new group of little Millennials are ready to have a say in
making their own memories.
“My mother used to make my clothes. My favorite outfit was
really simple and I liked it a lot. There was a hat, too,” said Rosa Sandoval,
doing some spring break shopping with her grandchildren, Lillian and Anthony
Lopez.
“I like this,” said Lillian, 8, plucking a sleeveless aqua
dress from a colorful rack in the girls’ clothing section and casting an eye
down an aisle stocked with princess gowns and dresses enhanced with tulle tutu
skirts.
“My parents are Amanda Sandoval and ‘Big’ Anthony Lopez. I
think they want me to get something like these clothes,” explained Anthony, 6,
whose tastes seem to run to outfits with long-sleeved shirts, vests and ties
with coordinated trousers.
The siblings picked out some favorites and decided they were
ready to go outside and play on a sunny spring day and leave the final choices
for later.
It’s worth a little thought. It seems that those childhood
spring outfits could be something they’ll remember for a lifetime.
S. Derrickson Moore may be
reached at 575-5450, dmoore@lcsun-news.com or @derricksonmoore on Twitter.
PRINT FACT BOX STARTS HERE
You’ve scored the perfect
spring outfit, prospective Easter Paraders. Now, where do you strut your spring
stuff? Here are some ideas
What: SpringFest 2016
What: Egg hunts, hands-on
children’s activities, playground, Easter Bunny, entertainment
When: 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Saturday March 26
Where: Young Park, 1905
Nevada Ave.
How much: Free
Info: 575-527-1111
Plus:
• Family gatherings
• Services and celebrations
at your church or place of worship
• Saturday Las Cruces
Farmers’ and Crafts Market, Main Street Downtown
• Easter Bunny visits,
Mesilla Valley Mall. Noon to 6 p.m. daily.
Jaeda Urbina, in a springy outfit with a
polka-dot cardigan, fills her basket at a recent SpringFest egg hunt while her
mom Diana Alarcon cheers her on in the background. This year’s event will be
from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. March 26
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