YELL CLUB MAKES ITS WAY TO FORT WORTH

The warm afternoon sun beamed on the Trinity River as around 200 Tarrant County residents gathered at the Streams & Valleys Plaza in west Fort Worth. Adults and kids mingled as they waited in line for a matcha latte from a local coffee truck, danced to will.i.am and Britney Spears singing “Scream and Shout” on the speaker, or passed a tennis ball to each other. 

These people were awaiting the first scream of the Fort Worth Yell Club, which took place on Sunday, Oct. 11. The club is part of an ongoing trend of people using social media to gather with others in a city to belt out their joys and frustrations together. There are no rules on what words or sounds they let out — as long as they release all their emotion. Shiloh Bellinghausen, Fort Worth Yell Club’s organizer, used social media to host a Dallas Yell Club two weeks prior. 

Two of those excited people were 17-year-olds Ruby Watson and Morgan Matheny, who were ready to go with big red megaphones in hand.

“It really felt like community,” said Watson. “Yesterday, I really didn’t wanna go to work. And I’m like, ‘OK, but you know what? I got Yell Club.’”

Similar to Dallas, Sunday’s event had about 200 local residents screaming into the Trinity River right toward the Fort Worth downtown skyline. The turnout of both events was bigger than Bellinghausen and his wife imagined.

“It’s a blessing,” said Kirsten Bellinghausen, who helps her husband organize the events and outreach. “We’re just grateful that we’re able to do something like this for the community.” 

Shiloh Bellinghausen said he’d had the idea for a yell club for a while, but only decided to act on it when he lost his mother this past summer and was laid off from his job of five years. 

“I was like, all right, I wanna yell,” Bellinghausen said, reflecting on that feeling. “I (thought) that would be such a funny but also serious idea — to create a group of people just yelling outside of the city together.”

At 2:15 p.m., a crowd lined up along the hill facing the Trinity River. Bellinghausen stood in front of the group, holding a megaphone and counting the crowd down for each of the three yells. 

Each yell was louder and longer than the last. 

Afterwards, residents stuck around to get coffee, chat with their new friends or hand out snacks and drinks they brought. Others went to speak with the Bellinghausens to thank them for the event. 

“It was amazing. Just seeing all ages, all types of people, everybody’s different backgrounds and stories,” Shiloh said.

One of those people was elementary student Tommy Gilliland, who came with his parents. 

His mother, Suezanne Gilliland, was unexpectedly in tears after releasing built-up tension from a hard few weeks for her and her son.

“I just felt like it was really good for him to get a lot of things out. The kids aren’t allowed to just run around screaming, you know?” she said. “It’s really beautiful, everybody can come together. All walks of life, no agenda.” 

Matheny mirrored this sentiment. With pent-up stress over the college application process, she and Watson were grateful to have an outlet.

“We need to make it more socially acceptable to just yell,” she said. “I feel ready to conquer the day after letting out this emotion.” 

The pair are already thinking of who to invite for the next Fort Worth Yell Club event on Sunday, Oct. 25 at 2 p.m. For this YELL-OWEEN, there will be a costume contest and more coffee from The Brown Thumb. 

The Bellinghausens are looking forward to growing their North Texas yell clubs, and are happy to be able to hold an event that resonates so much with the community and brings them together. 

“Sometimes simplicity really is where you find the most joy and community,” Kirsten said. “The odds (are that), coming to one of these places, you’ll leave with something good as well.” 

Mica Magday is a reporting fellow for the Fort Worth Report. Contact her at [email protected]. 

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