News from Marion Price Trust Fund
Happy Spring! Well, happy almost spring. As I write this, we have finally come out of the deep freeze and snow of this winter, and it feels like spring. Spring will officially begin Friday, March 20 this year, no matter what Punxsutawney Phil says. Who can believe a groundhog, anyway?
The feel of spring always brings thoughts of Easter for me. The smell of Easter flowers, green grass, trees budding, weekly Lenten church services, and, of course, chocolate. The churches and fire companies are already making and selling their homemade Easter candy, and Hershey has released their Reese’s chocolate peanut butter egg. I just saw a commercial about an experiment to see which is better, Reese’s or Cadbury egg, but the girl picks both. That would not be a hard choice for me, as the Reese’s egg is my all-time favorite. Which would you pick?
Last year was the first time my son, Stone, was not at home for Easter. He was spending the holiday in Florida, where he now lives and works. Since Stone was not traveling back to PA, he was invited to spend the holiday with his girlfriend and her family. Before the holiday, his girlfriend, Hannah, reached out to me for the recipe for pineapple filling, which is a dish we always serve at Easter, as well as any other favorites she could include in the menu. The first time Stone brought Hannah home to meet us, she asked about some of our family traditions, and she remembered the pineapple filling. Please let me know if you’d like the recipe.
We are now planning Stone and Hannah’s wedding, and once again we are talking about family traditions. I began to ask around about some Easter traditions people had, whether from when they were young or after they had their own families. I found that most of us have very similar traditions or memories, but some were remembered more fondly than others.
Easter egg hunts were a top tradition. Most remember going out in the yard to hunt eggs; some had coins inside, some had candy, and some collected eggs, and the one with the most eggs got the bigger chocolate bunny. Mootz’s candy was remembered for all the wonderful candy they made right here in Pottsville. Some felt looking forward to their basket of candy on Easter morning was a favorite memory. Going downtown to buy a new fancy dress, shoes, and bonnet was a favorite tradition. Some looked forward to watching the sunrise at an early church service. Another said their family went to the beach each Easter to attend sunrise service on the beach. Enjoying a big Sunday dinner of ham, stuffing, and all the trimmings was another tradition. Coloring hard-boiled eggs was another fond tradition, one that my family still enjoys even though my kids are grown. Someone even mentioned getting two live bunnies for Easter. This was a gift that multiplied quickly! One remembered Shrove Tuesday dinners at the church.
I really enjoyed speaking to people and listening to their memories. I hope you take a minute this Easter to smell the flowers, to reflect back on past Easters, and enjoy some sweet memories of Easters gone by.
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