What to know: Every day as I drive down Wadley, I pass two giraffes peeking their heads over a fence. No matter the season, they’re always dressed for the occasion. Santa hats in December, patriotic top hats on the 4th of July. For years, I’ve wondered about them. Who keeps dressing them? Why are they there? So, I sat down with the giraffe owner, Holly Evans, to hear the story behind the beloved duo, April and Gerald.

The big picture: Holly’s obsession began in 2017 with a giraffe who would inspire the name of her own. April was a pregnant giraffe at an animal adventure park, and the park invited people to tune in once labor began to watch the birth of a new giraffe. Holly became hooked on the livestream of April’s pregnancy.

“I got addicted to watching. I wanted to watch her have this baby,” Evans said. “She was not as far along as they thought, so I was logging on every day for two months like, ‘Oh my goodness, did she have her baby yet?’”

Fast forward a few years, and she got a call from her daughter saying, “Mom, I’m bringing you the best Mother’s Day gift ever,” which turned out to be April. She was a life-sized giraffe that had been used as event décor at the country club where Holly’s daughter worked, which the event organizers had abandoned.

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“We put her in the backyard, and at first I would just move her around,” Evans said.

Go deeper: Holly began dressing April in fun hats. Her neighbors and friends started noticing, and then the rest of Midland. She mentioned that a coworker told her about a post on NextDoor featuring a picture of April.

“I don’t know who these people are, but they crack me up with this giraffe,” Evans recalled the post saying. “I don’t know what this giraffe’s name is, but I call him Gerald.”

Holly later shared with the poster that her name was actually April, but when the opportunity for the next giraffe came around, she said, “Gerald it is.”

“April was a single lady there for a while. She was looking for the right man. She was waiting for Gerald,” Evans said.

Holly mentioned that the couple has had an official engagement and that a very exciting wedding is in the works.

“Everyone keeps telling us we need to take a whole section of the fence down and put plexiglass up because you have to see [the] dress and have a whole altar,” Evans said. “I even had somebody from Midland Community Theater offer to dress them for the big day.”

Zoom out: Holly began dressing the pair regularly, and the community responded with enthusiasm. People started leaving notes in her mailbox, dropping off scarves and hats, and even asking to stop by for photos. I have to confess, I also got in touch by leaving a note in her mailbox.

“I have so many people who’ve stopped and put little notes in our mailbox,” Evans said. “It just brings me so much joy because people love them.”

The giraffes have even gotten to don hard hats. Last year, April and Gerald got in on the construction action happening beside their house. Holly said all the construction workers had a blast seeing them watch over their safety.

“They were just out there taking pictures with the giraffes all day,” she said.

While the giraffes have brought plenty of joy, Holly admits the hobby comes with some unexpected costs. She remarked that the West Texas weather is not always kind to the giraffes’ hats.

“I always love when we get hats from people because they get kind of expensive,” Evans said. “I wash them and reuse them now when we can because those foam hats are almost $40-50 a pop. April and Gerald need some sort of hat fund or a GoFundMe.”

For now, the giraffes remain a cheerful presence on Wadley. A small, silly tradition that has brought a lot of joy to Midland.

“I just think that people just need something cheesy in their life every once in a while,” Evans said. “Doesn’t have to be serious, doesn’t have to be overly inspirational, but just something goofy to go, ‘what are they wearing today?'”

The giraffes have become something of a local tradition, and Holly feels a sense of responsibility to keep it going.

“Now especially with how much people have loved it, we got to keep it up and we probably always will,” Evans said. “We’ll just have to keep adding to the family, and heck, at some point, we might add a tiger or giraffe. Just have a whole savannah back there.”

What’s next: Keep driving down Wadley or watching NextDoor to see April and Gerald’s next adventure, and stay tuned for their upcoming special day.