Let the Hunt Begin!
- Lions Club Easter Egg Hunt is a local tradition.
- Mar 23, 2016
- 4 min read
Easter is just around the corner. It's a tricky one. It rambles around – a roving holiday. I usually hear about it at church, though I have several reliable calendars that seem to agree on the date each year. I’ve always wondered about the mysterious floating island of Easter (not to be confused with Easter Island, though I’ve always wondered about those massive stone heads – like something out of Lovecraft). Until this year I never stopped to ponder the mystery of Easter, but it confounded me.
Let me attempt to do this justice. The moon has phases. These phases are useful for keeping time and are tracked by a lunar calendar, as opposed to the solar calendar we all know and trust. There are intimidating terms associate with this lunar calendar – Paschal, vernal equinox, ecclesiastical – the list goes on. One can become mired in the the vernacular of its adherents. Fortunately, the key to Easter seems pretty simple. We celebrate Easter on the the first Sunday following the first full moon after the first day of spring, which is March 21st. One caveat. If the full moon is on the first Sunday following the first day of spring, we celebrate Easter on the following Sunday.
Now I know and so do you. I’m not likely to pull out a lunar calendar or study the sky. I’ll continue to trust iCalendar or Google, or someone from my church to let me know when it is appropriate to roll out the decorations.
Easter is the time of year when we give pastel colors a fairer shake than they deserve. We celebrate with chocolate and marshmallows, jelly beans, bunnies that lay eggs, and baby ducks. We dye, decorate and hide eggs. Our children will hunt them, hoping to find the plastic ones filled with money or candy (Note: If you choose to hide hard boiled eggs, draw a map. This way, if your children overlook or avoid those bland and impecunious things, you’ll be able to locate them before the weather and your neighbors turn on you.).
Easter is a day to show our appreciation for the season! Some of us celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ and the hope that spring represents. Some will celebrate the arrival of spring with her warmth and sunshine. Still others will fall into the strange mix of traditions for an excuse to have a family meal, eat sweets, and watch their children enjoy the festivities. Hopefully we’ll all enjoy the day together with family and community.
As providence would have it, we have just such an opportunity, the annual Bonners Ferry Lions Club Easter Egg Hunt! It takes place at the Fairgrounds, beginning at 11am on the Saturday before Easter. Many of you know exactly what I’m talking about. The Lions Club Easter Egg Hunt has long been a tradition in Bonners Ferry.
Sources differ as to the year it began. Some say it started as far back as 1959. The Easter Egg Hunt is a great example of a holiday tradition bringing people together. The whole community gets involved.
Before parents can bring their kids out to hunt the eggs, the eggs require some special attention. The people of the Lions Club used to divide up the eggs and take them home. They’d work in their kitchens with their families to boil and dye the eggs.
The process is different today. The Lions Club still supplies the eggs, and they boil them too. When the eggs are ready for decoration, usually on the Wednesday before Easter, the Club drops them off at the Restorium, a local senior assisted-living center managed by Boundary County.
There are some 30 people living at the Restorium. Those of them who wish to participate, along with members of the staff, start decorating the eggs on the Friday before Easter. The residents can dye all 150 dozen eggs in about a half hour! Perhaps that isn’t surprising after years of practice. They are also known to race one another to see who can dye the most eggs.
The Lions Club picks the eggs up on Saturday, the day before Easter. They are responsible for hiding all those eggs! Not only do they hide the eggs, they make sure the eggs are hidden in places for kids of all ages to find.
Think about all the people working behind the scenes to make this event possible each year for all these years. It is truly a community event, a celebration for the season.
Whatever you celebrate, come on out to the fairgrounds at 11am on the Saturday before Easter. Bring your kids. No kids? Come out anyway. Enjoy the fresh air, talk to your neighbors, watch the kids have themselves a time hunting Easter eggs.
Ever wonder, “Why eggs?” Me too. Here’s a little insight from History.com. The tradition of hard boiling eggs for Easter might have begun as early as the 13th century. It was customary at the time for churchgoing folks to swear off eggs for lent. Instead of letting the eggs go bad, they boiled and dyed them. When the fast was over, the eggs were preserved and ready to eat!
תגובות