Today is Good Friday March 21, 2008.
Christians celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus on Easter Sunday.
The Easter egg is a sign of fertility and new life. Originally eggs were colored brightly and given as gifts. Different cultures have developed different ways to decorate eggs. Greeks dye eggs a crimson color to represent the blood of Christ.
Slavic people decorate their eggs in special patterns using hot melted beeswax. The wax is applied to a white egg and then dipped in different color dyes. After each dip more wax is applied and eventually a complex pattern emerges into a beautiful design. The wax is removed and the egg is polished. These eggs are called Pysanki. The contents of the egg are sometimes removed by piercing the shell at both ends and blowing out the yolk.
Armenians decorate their eggs with pictures of Christ, the Blessed Mother and other religious designs. In some parts of Austria and Germany eggs are dyed green and used on Holy Thursday. The Germans brought the Easter Rabbit to America and the custom of the Easter Bunny bringing multi colored eggs on Easter.
The Easter bonnet tradition dates back to the 1800's when Easter Sunday was known as the Sunday of Joy. All the ladies who had worn dark, drab colors during the year began to wear colorful bonnets to church on this day. The hats were usually made of straw and adorned with flowers, bright ribbons and lace.
Easter was not widely celebrated in America until after the Civil War. The earliest recorded advertisement of the jelly bean dates back to William Schraft in which he promoted sending them to the Union soldiers. The jelly bean is an off shoot of a Turkish candy with a soft center and a hard shell which originated in Istanbul. It became a penny candy staple in the early 1900's and was the first candy to be sold by bulk. They became popular for Easter in the 1930ís because of their shape and bright colors.
Put your Peeps in the microwave and watch them grow. I hope everyone has a Happy Easter.
Calvary Lutheran Church 6149 S. Kenneth will hold their 34th Annual All You Can Eat Spaghetti Dinner on Saturday March 29th from 4:30 p.m. until 7 p.m. Advance ticket purchases are preferred, tickets are available before and after Sunday Services. Tickets will also be available at the door the day of the dinner. Adults are $7 and children 5 to 12 are $3. For more information please call 773-735-6887.
Avoid those tickets. If you have made an honest mistake and missed a toll you have a 7 day grace period. You can pay them on line at www.illinoistollway.com. You can also pay by mailing your check or money order to Illinois Tollway, 2700 Ogden Ave., Downers Grove IL., 60515 Attn: Cash Handling Division. You must include the license plate #, state and type. You must also include vehicle make and model, date and time of incident and the name of the road and toll plaza where it happened. I-PASS users should mount their transponders behind the rear view mirror.