To Know Me Is To Know My Family: (40) Easter on the Farm

Writing Blog #40 Easter on the Farm

Easter on the farm pretty much always started out the same way. First, we woke up to the smell of breakfast being cooked. A usual morning meal would be fresh farm eggs from our laying hens, bacon and toast. The adults would have coffee and we would have fresh milk from our cow Tangerine. After breakfast was consumed, Mom would dress us girls up in our new Easter dresses and Henry in his nice slacks and shirt. Mom would dress up in a pretty spring colored dress and Dad would wear his suit. We would all pile into the old Model Tee Ford and be off to our little German Lutheran Church that was on Bay Harbor Drive that was built by the congregation, with the help of my Grandfather George Elhardt, located down the street from our home. Services would be in German given by Pastor Hans Wuerth, whom was my Aunt Trudy’s Father. Trudy was married to my Uncle Erwin who was my Dad’s brother.  

After Church we would pile back into the car and go to the State Capitol Lawn and join in on an Easter Egg Hunt. There would be many families there to join in the festivities. All children would bring a basket or a bag to put the eggs they found into it to take home. There were so many eggs, some well hidden and others out in the open. But there was the special egg all would search for which was just a plain white hard-boiled egg. There was only one of those out there on the large lawn in front of the Capitol building. Did we receive a special gift for finding the egg, no, it was just the fact that it was the only one of its kind that made it the prize? The one who found it, was indeed the best egg hunter of that year. Before the hunt began, we would all gather around the speaker who would give us the rules. There wasn’t many, just to have fun and not to crack the eggs. Take note that in these days we did not have plastic eggs to put candies in, just the good old fashioned dyed hard-boiled eggs. When you think of eggs being placed on the huge lawn and the fact that some where so well hidden, certainly a few would be over looked and what a mess that would have been in a matter of days. So, after the rules were read, we heard our Easter greeting, we were left to run the lawn with so many other children. There were my two parents to the three of us kids that were grown enough to be in search for eggs, I would imagine that would be kind of hard to keep track of us. Henry, would of course in his typical little boy fashion get very cared away with the hunt. Mom use to say that give a little boy like Henry a can to kick and he would be lost in his own thoughts and would have wandered to who knows where the can would take him before he would realize where he had traveled. A special eye had to be on him so that he did not get to far away. The girls would stay closer to Mom or Dad. After a period of time, they would announce that the hunt was over and it would be discovered who had indeed found the Grand White Egg.

With the eggs in tow and under the direction of our parents we would go back to the car and be on our way to Grandma and Grandpa Elhardt’s house. There we would join in a family meal prepared by our Grandmother. Most of the Aunts and Uncles would be in attendance with all of our cousins. It would be a large gathering of about 50 people if all were there. We all enjoyed each other and there was always plenty to eat. We were/are so blessed to be a part of this family. We all were there for each other and the many personalities were always delightful. Happy Easter to all. May you receive many blessings.