Petaluma couple turns front yard into Easter display

For the past four years, Jean and Rod Howery have made their Petaluma front yard into a land of bunnies and eggs and children, an ode to Easter for neighbors and passersby.

The display at 6 El Rose Drive, featuring large, biped rabbits and child mannequins, among other Easter eggs and bright flowers, has taken on a special significance this year.

Amid the coronavirus pandemic that has led to strict shelter-in-place orders and a missing sense of community, there are fewer cars driving by from nearby Petaluma High School. But with neighbors stuck at home, or taking walks near home, the Howery’s display has still drawn plenty of attention.

“My husband and I wanted to do something to lift people’s spirits and give them something fun to look at,” Jean Howery said.

They’ve gotten plenty of positive comments, but more than a few people have called the display “creepy.” That doesn’t bother the Howerys, Halloween buffs who have for more than a decade gone all out on a spooky display each October. After all, the towering, still, silent rabbits are leftover Halloween decorations.

“I used them for Halloween because a lot of people think they’re creepy, actually,” Jean Howery said. “Easter came, and I put them out there, and people really like them.”