HUBA hopes to celebrate spring with world's largest bunny hop

To kick off its spring First Friday events, the Hillsboro Uptown Business Association is challenging its patrons to help them form the world's largest "bunny hop." 

HUBA vice president Brent Huffman said the group was looking for a fun way to bring attention to its first big spring event. 

"It's on Good Friday, April 6," Huffman said. "It's right before Easter, and we thought that this might be a fun thing to try. We thought, 'Well, the bunny hop is something that people of all ages can do, and it's something that might be really fun.'"

Created in the 1950s, the bunny hop involves a group of people in a single-file line, tapping their feet in unison on either side of the line, followed by three short hops forward.

Recording artist Duke Ellington recorded the "Bunny Hop Mambo" in 1954.

Huffman said that after some searching online he found a record that was set in Washington state with 1,887 people. 

"We want everyone to come out of the stores at 7 p.m., and if we can get 1,888 people to uptown Hillsboro, we can try to break the world record," Huffman said. "We thought this would be the perfect time to do the bunny hop. It seems like a lot of people area getting really excited about it." 

The "bunny hop" First Friday event will kick off the spring and summer activities for HUBA, Huffman said. 

"We're trying to encourage people to get out after the cold winter months," he said. "In May we'll have an art walk, and that's when the cruise-ins will start. We will have a cruise-in every First Friday around the courthouse lawn from May through October, except for July during the Festival of the Bells."

First Fridays began last fall as an initiative to promote Hillsboro and its uptown businesses. The first Friday of every month, some stores and restaurants stay open later to encourage more foot traffic. 

In November, Huffman said that it gave people a chance to "rediscover Hillsboro" and all it has to offer.

"We hope that it's an event that will be fun for people of any age," Huffman said.