According to one legend, Martin Luther originated the Easter Egg Hunt for his congregation. The men would hide the eggs. Then the women and children would hunt them, supposedly a nod to the fact that it was women who found the empty tomb. Now some say it trivializes Easter. I’ve always been rather fond of the tradition.
When I grew up, Easter week was great. First, there was no school on Good Friday in those days. On Saturday, we decorated hard-boiled eggs in various colors. As I got older, Easter Sunday would start early with the Sunrise Service. For many years, it was held at Schiffer’s Lake. It always seemed a little odd to be there without a fishing pole in my hand. Then we’d go home and change into our brand new Easter suit, which was some hideous thing I never wanted to wear again. Then we’d go outside and have our picture taken, of course. The real fun started after church.
The eggs would be hidden, and then they’d turn us loose. We’d find plenty of the hard-boiled eggs, but I was primarily concerned with the little individually wrapped sugary ones. Later, we’d eat a few eggs, and the hard-boiled ones went into the refrigerator once we got home. But those little individually wrapped chunks of flavored sugar eggs could be hidden again and again. You could make a whole day out of it.
The tradition was very much alive when my kids came along. In fact, it was even better for them. Yes, they had the egg hunt at County Line, the same as I did. But, they had prize eggs and more variety. After that egg hunt, we went to Pine Grove Baptist Church in Woolsey, where my inlaw’s family had another egg hunt. The first year I went, the lady in charge, Miss Dot, asked me if I would help hide the eggs. I said sure. You’d have to see the place to realize how silly the term ‘hiding’ was. People would literally sling bag after bag of eggs over about a 1-acre lawn. I’m talking maybe 4 or 5 thousand eggs for 30 kids. There were two things I didn’t know on that first Easter. One was that Miss Dot was crazy, and two, Miss Dot started a tradition. Once maybe 90% of the eggs were ‘hidden,’ the hiders started throwing the rest at each other. It was a war. You took a beating if you thought you were too proper to throw eggs at people you just met. Fortunately, I was a quick learner.
Once the mayhem was over, the kids collected the eggs. There was no need for hunting – they were everywhere. The older kids came with 5-gallon buckets. Once we were done there, we headed over to my inlaw’s house and hid some more. Maybe it trivializes Easter somewhat, but I don’t think it’s bad for children to have these positive memories of Easter. If you bring them up correctly, they will get its importance as well.
“A man who was completely innocent, offered himself as a sacrifice for the good of others, including his enemies, and became the ransom of the world. It was a perfect act.” – Mahatma Gandhi