Palmyra High sophomores Maya Richman-Dupont (left) and Melody Morales-Sanchez helped direct children during the hunt on March 28.
Despite the chill in the air, there was excitement among more than 50 children wearing winter coats who waited patiently for the annual borough Easter egg hunt on March 28, continuing a tradition started by Martin Luther in the 16th century.
The founder of the Lutheran Church in Germany, the Protestant reformer organized egg hunts for his congregation. The men would hide the eggs for the women and children to signify that the empty tomb of Jesus was discovered on Easter morning by three women, including Mary Magdalene.
In many pre-Christian societies, eggs held associations with spring and new life and early Christians adapted those beliefs, making the egg a symbol of the resurrection and the empty shell a metaphor for Jesus’ tomb. Dyeing Easter eggs red dates to the early Greek Orthodox Church and its belief that Mary Magdalene traveled to Rome to present an egg to Emperor Tiberius, saying “Christ is risen.”
The emperor said a person rising from the dead was as impossible as the white egg in Mary’s hand turning red. According to tradition, the egg did just that, which the faithful saw as a miraculous sign of the Resurrection.
It is hard to say if any of the children waiting to collect eggs at Legion Field were thinking of the tradition’s history. Directing them by age group to areas of the field were Palmyra High volunteers Maya Richman-Dupont, Melody Morales-Sanchez, Brock Weaver and Joshua Carter.
“I like working with kids,” said sophomore Morales-Sanchez. “This is a lot of fun.”
“I enjoy helping out at community events,” added Richman-Dupont, also a sophomore.
Weaver and Carter – both members of the school’s Interact Club – didn’t seem bothered by the cold weather as they demonstrated their community service.
The excitement built to a fever pitch as Michelle Wright-Sykes, facilities scheduling coordinator for the borough, started the countdown: “Five, four, three, two, one.”
Children ran out onto the field screaming wildly with baskets, buckets and bags in hand as they tried to get as many eggs as possible. When the Easter bunny arrived, they screamed even louder.
The free egg hunt was sponsored by F.C. Kerbeck and the borough and included parents and guardians. Later that day, a special needs hunt took place in the community center backyard on West Broad Street.
Kids searched for eggs at the borough’s Legion Field. The event was co-sponsored by Palmyra and F.C. Kerbeck.
