This is the time of year when I dye hard-boiled Easter eggs. It is not a necessary activity; it may even be silly since I have neither children nor grandchildren on hand to hunt them. But, like the cookies at Christmas time, they are a part of the seasonal celebration and I wouldn't feel right if I didn't conform.
When the children were small, Bill and I dyed a couple dozen eggs and hid them under cushions, in the buffet's silver drawer, behind furniture, or mixed in with toys. Then, one year, the older boys decided that hiding was more interesting than hunting, and suggested that we parents should hunt what they hid in the second-floor bedrooms.
It turned out to be more of a challenge than we had expected. Those little fiends moved a full-size mattress to drop an egg into the spring in the middle of the bedframe.
They found an opening in the hem of a chintz drapery, and tucked an egg into the toe of a slipper at the very back of the clothes closet. Fortunately the eggs had been counted, otherwise we would have given up, and at least one egg would have been found by its smell sometime after the Fourth of July.
Some egg-hunts are community-wide, usually out of doors. Eggs are rolled each year on the White House lawn, and Bill told us about "picking eggs'' - one youngster hitting another's egg with his own to see which had the toughest shell. The winner pocketed the egg he had cracked.
Our eggs were colored with commercial vegetable dyes, but my parents remembered boiling eggs with beets to give them a rich red color, or wrapping them with onion skins to make a fascinating abstract pattern that ranged from ecru to deep mahogany.
I don't know why eggs have become associated with Easter celebrations. Is it a carry-over from the hard-boiled eggs that are part of a Jewish Passover meal? Is it because in the strict-abstaining Orthodox congregations eggs are proscribed during Lent along with meat and fats, dances and weddings? Or is the egg, looking like a lump of marble but containing the essence of life, a symbol for the resurrection of Easter?
There are other Easter traditions that persist, although their original significance has been lost. An "Easter outfit,'' for instance, usually means a new dress, appropriate to the milder temperatures we expect at Easter time.
But I remember talking to a girl who told me that her mother would not allow her to go to services on Easter Day unless she - and all her siblings! - were dressed from head to toe in new clothes. It was not a fashion statement, or an attempt to impress their neighbors. It was a sincere belief that new clothing was the outward and visible sign of the new life they enjoyed because of the miracle of Easter.
To a lesser extent, that same mood was reflected in the congregation as a whole. The somber woolens of winter were set aside, and pews were filled with ladies in bright colored dresses and flower-decorated hats.
The service began with a trumpet-blare and continued with hymns that repeated, one verse after another, Hallelujah! It was a happy blend of celebrating the end of winter and the promise of eternal life.
Bunny rabbits are often given to children at Easter time, but they, too, are symbols of life in abundance. Similarly, the bouquets that are carried into the chancel are made up of the flowers that only weeks ago were locked into hard, onion-like roots - again, showing us that life merges from the most unlikely-looking sources.
The specially-marked days on the calendar are not just occasions for closing City Hall or promoting sales at our shopping centers. They are celebrated for a reason, a combination of religion and folklore and family tradition. They come together in a wonderful blend as I turn my attention to coloring a clutch of Easter eggs.
Happy Easter!
Betty VanNewkirk is the historian for the Frostburg Museum.
Betty Van NewKirk - From the Museum
March 20, 2008
There is a reason to celebrate
- Betty Van NewKirk - From the Museum
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Happy 200th to St. Paul's Lutheran congregation
Today is the 200th birthday of the Lutheran congregation in Frostburg!
On Aug. 14, 1808, 24 people joined in a communion service in the New Church, a log structure on the edge of what is now called the Prichard Farm. - Quality, attitude of people make 'Burg special A note in the newspaper a week or so ago mentioned that Oprah Winfrey was looking for "the best small towns in America.'' Frostburg is the best one I know of - but unfortunately Oprah asked for photos or videos supporting the nomination.
- There's always something new under the sun! The popular press has been devoting a good bit of space in recent weeks to the new swimsuit, introduced by Speedo, which supposedly has contributed to the record-breaking times posted in the Olympic tryouts.
- Ward and his mansion stand proud in 'Burg I've had questions recently - not for the first time! - about William Ward and the house he built at 73 W. Main St. here in Frostburg.
- July 4th: Finding our beliefs Independence Day, like Christmas, is one of the few national holidays that has not been moved to Monday, to provide a four-day break for working people. It holds its own as the Fourth of July.
- Berry-picking brings back many memories Last week I went to Wiley Ford to pick strawberries. I came home with enough for several packets of frozen berries, for three jars of strawberry jam, generous spoonfuls of fruit on my breakfast cereal and shortcake with real whipped cream.
- Ambulance service has key community role The Frostburg Area Ambulance Service is currently asking for our help in raising money for the protective clothing that new government regulations require.
- Planet continues to change; Big One on horizon? In a year that is not yet half over, 2008 has already written itself into the record books for extremes of hot and cold, rain and drought, tornadoes and floods and earthquakes. Our planet Earth has been in a constant state of change.
- In tennis, individuals face each other as equals I'm not a sports person, but I like to watch tennis. During the three big summer tournaments - Paris, London and New York, played on three different surfaces - my TV is on, and I check the newspaper for details that I have missed.
- Arts are obviously alive in Allegany County Last week I had the pleasure of attending the spring concert of the Allegany Community Symphony Orchestra. The program was free, and nicely varied, and the instrumentalists were competent.
- More Betty Van NewKirk - From the Museum Headlines
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Happy 200th to St. Paul's Lutheran congregation
Today is the 200th birthday of the Lutheran congregation in Frostburg!
