Easter Egg Roll

Anyone make this year's Easter Egg Roll? I didn't, but hey, looks fun (as if I have ever have...)! This year's theme was "Ready, Set, Go!" to dovetail with the First Lady's Let's Move initative.

And a little bit more trivia from year's past:

Patricia Nixon distributed certificates of participation as a souvenir to all egg rollers. First ladies Betty Ford and Rosalynn Carter distributed plastic eggs with printed notes inside from the first lady. In 1981, President Ronald Reagan and first lady Nancy Reagan arranged a hunt for wooden eggs printed with the signatures of famous people. Wooden eggs soon became the official White House Easter Egg Roll keepsake.

In 1969, a member of Patricia Nixon's staff put on a white fleece costume with ears, and so was born the tradition of an official White House Easter Bunny. When the event was canceled in 1984 because of rain, Reagan's staff — led by the wife of Attorney General Edwin Meese, wearing a disguise — organized a tour through the White House as consolation. Goody bags also were distributed.

Easter Egg Roll Trivia

Here are some fun tidbits about Easter Egg Rolls of the past:
Some 53,000 people attended the egg roll in 1941 (73 children ended up being separated from their parents), though in modern times the number is generally under 20,000. Calvin Coolidge's wife mingled through crowds while holding a pet raccoon named Rebecca, while Mrs. Warren G. Harding put on the uniform of her beloved Girl Scouts for the event. Ursula Meese, wife of Reagan's Attorney General, donned a full-body Easter Bunny costume for six Easter Egg Rolls. Showcasing modern technology, Eleanor Roosevelt welcomed crowds and addressed listeners across the country via radio in 1933, while the Clinton administration proudly announced that 1998's egg roll would be the first broadcast on the Internet.

Washington being Washington, politics is rarely far from the celebration. Nancy Reagan personally called an 11-year-old girl to invite her to 1984's roll after learning that a campaign worker said the girl wouldn't be welcome due to her support for Walter Mondale.

Have a great holiday weekend!