Throwback Thursday: Easter egg hunts, Ukrainian traditions, and beach crowds

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — This week’s Throwback Thursday looks back at Easter traditions across the Cape Fear, from large community gatherings to classroom lessons and beachside celebrations.

In 1995, hundreds of families gathered at what was then known as Hugh MacRae Park, now Long Leaf Park, for an annual Easter egg hunt.

Nearly 2,000 children spread out across the park searching for colorful eggs filled with treats and prizes. Organizers said the large crowd required extra help to keep things running smoothly.

“We had the New Hanover County Sheriff’s Department here, so we had sheriffs out in each of the areas, so just having the heavy authoritative figures out there helped a lot,” one organizer said.

Another story from March 1989 highlighted a unique Easter tradition inside a classroom at Topsail Middle School. Students learned how to create Ukrainian Easter eggs using wax and dye as part of a lesson on Soviet culture.

“Draw what you want and make the design, and if you want it to stay white, put the wax over the parts you want to stay white,” one student explained.

“It’s pretty hard to keep your hands steady, you melt the wax and then you put it on the egg and it pours down sometimes,” another student added.

The segment also revisited Easter weekend in 1985, when warm weather drew crowds to Wrightsville Beach. Sunbathers took advantage of the holiday sunshine, with some even sending greetings back home through the camera.

“Hi mom, hi dad!” one beachgoer said.

The segment is part of a new weekly Throwback Thursday series that will feature stories from WWAY’s historical news archives. That archive can be accessed here.