The Legendary Easter Bunny is Set to Visit Shady Pines
Easter Fun in Shady Pines
The level of activity has certainly picked up this week. Before you know it, Easter will be here.
“This is one of my favorite holidays in our small Southern town,” says Mayor Beauregard P. Fibbs. “Main Street comes alive with gals looking for spring dresses to wear to Easter services;
guys look for new shirts and ties to spruce up their looks; and kids search for new oufits along with goodies to fill their Easter baskets.”
But there’s one story that the good mayor of Shady Pines likes to tell children when he meets with them at the Shady Pines Elementary School. Each year, just before 
Easter he sits with the kids to tell them about the Legend of the Easter bunny.
Basically, this is what he tells them:
Why An Easter Bunny?
“Have you ever wondered how the legend of an egg-laying rabbit came to be associated a Christian holiday like Easter? Think about it. Why do we have a rabbit and not a chicken? After all, a chicken actually does lay eggs (even if they typically don’t come out dyed and decorated.)
Well children, it turns out the exact beginings of the Easter Bunny legend is not easy to pin down.
But, there is a solid historical reason why the mythical creature is a rabbit.
You see, rabbits have long been associated with springtime celebrations. After all, it’s the season when baby bunnies are born.
Way, way back in time the symbol of the season of renewal was the goddess of dawn and new birth. Her name was Eostre. Sounds like Easter, doesn’t it?
She was typically represented in art by a woman in a flowing gown. The goddess’ name came from the ancient word for spring: “Eastre.” Eostre’s sacred animal was a rabbit. The symbol of the rebirth of life in the springtime was the egg. That’s the connection.
Now, rabbits and eggs have long been associated with Easter. But the egg-laying chocolate-delivering Easter bunny as we know it doesn’t appear in history until sometime in the 1600s.
The Legend Arrives in America
That’s when a rabbit whose name, Osterhas, translates to ‘Easter rabbit’ was said to lay colorful eggs for children to find on Easter Sunday. When the first Europeans arrived in America a hundred years later, the tradition came with them.
That tradition also included having children make their own nests or baskets in the week leading up to Easter, and then the Osterhase would leave eggs for them.
And that’s how the practice of designing and filling Easter baskets was born.
So here’s what you need to remember. Whether you receive an Easter basket on this special spring holiday, or play the role of the Easter bunny this year, keep this in mind.
You can thank that old rabbit ‘Osterhase’ and the long history of the Easter bunny for giving us the excuse to eat a few extra chocolates this season!”
Thank you Mayor Fibbs!
It won’t be long now and the excitement is building. The Shady Pines Community Center will soon hold it’s annual 
Edna Sanders makes a list of things she wants to get at the store.
and makes a beeline to the refrigerator. “What do we all like, dear?”
“Oh, okay,” says Harold. “Guess I’ll just have some fruit. That’s right. St. Paddy’s Day is coming up. Should I wear my leprachaun costume again?”
is sunning herself. The silver streak of a cat opens one eye and looks down at him. “What do you want?”
Boomer tilts his head. “You don’t know, do you?”
“You know dear,” says Edna. “I really enjoy St. Patrick’s Day. It’s a delightful way to celebrate the
“Come on Halley. Let’s go!” shouts Boomer as he explodes through the doggie door.
Boomer digs frantically at one spot under the blooming cherry tree. “I’m looking for the leprachauns and their gold!” shouts Boomer.
Hey, it’s me. I’m Scoop, your cub reporter with The Shady Pines Gazette newspaper. 
This just in. It’s that time again. Get, it, “time?”
“Yes, Ms. Talmadge. I’ve been doing some research and here’s what I found out.”
Otherwise, when you wake up, you’ll be really behind
up to daylight saving time to help adjust yourself to the change. That’s why you need to start now.
As winter gives way to spring, what kind of weather can the folks in Shady Pines Story Town expect?
rawhide bone.
Halley’s Comet, their silver streak of a cat, is perched on her pink window seat grooming herself.
Edna places the last clean plate in the upper cupboard. “Harold I just realized tomorrow is a new month. Can you believe that?”
like a lamb,” says Harold.
with Boomer and pets his head. “Easy boy. Pretend you’re a lamb.”
take weeks or even months to arrive. 
His teacher called him “addled,” which means slow or dim. 
That’s right. They didn’t think he was very smart. Edison’s mother was frustrated with the school.
the Grand Trunk Herald.
Some of his other best known inventions include the phonograph (which recorded sounds and played them back) and the movie camera. That’s right. Every time you watch a movie you now know who made that possible.
Just days ahead of Martin Luther King Day this year, Boston unveiled a new statue. 
about the civil rights leader’s connection to Boston?
“I Have A Dream”
President Ronald Reagan signed Martin Luther King Day, into law, making it a federal holiday.
With all the angry political divide in our country right now, Martin Luther King Day comes just at the right time, don’t you think? His peaceful approach to intolerance was not only the right way to encourage change, it actually worked!
What do the children in your lives see when they look to the future?