When I was a kid -

[Mark Crnolatas]

TV had Easter parades on every channel. All 3 of them. I lived on a street that ran from Lkwd Heights to Madison, and I knew the names of every family on both sides of the street. We had block parties almost every summer. We had Easter egg hunts, placed up and down the whole street. There were at least five or six families that we could exchange house keys with, in case any of us locked ourselves out, or needed help of some sort.

During the recession in the 50's, the factory my dad worked at shut it's doors for good leaving my dad unemployed for quite awhile.
BUT...he was a drummer, so we lived on the weekend jobs my dad used to play. Easter was almost as good as Christmas in getting toys, but after
losing the factory job, I remember getting underwear and/or sox for Christmas and for Easter, one of those tiny Easter baskets with 5 jelly beans and 5 foil wrapped chocolates in it. That would come from one of the neighbors, since everyone watched out for each other.
If we needed a plumber or some other house repairs, someone on the street either would help out, or know someone to help out and not even charge for it.
It was just "the thing to do". Mrs. Pierbeck would make creme puffs and give them out to every house on our part of the street. Ahhhh.

Today I was looking for Easter shows on TV. ( I'm still a kid inside.) The pickings are pretty thin. We don't know anyone on the street except a "Hi" relationship with 2 houses. We could use some plumbing and electrical work, but the "who do we know" thing is in the distant past.
Google doesn't have ANYTHING on it's face page showing that it's Easter'.... such as kid's art for the logo etc. WOW.

Am I bitter? Not really, even though Lakewoodites received a hose job by those involved.
SUGGESTION: Let's remember there are still some people that subscribe to the "be helpful, not hateful" belief. Let's remember why Easter exists. Let's remember that if you want to receive blessings, be a blessing to someone else. A kind word has power. It can turn a tear into a smile. Let's remember not to judge a book by it's cover. Let's remember to ....remember we can still be "kids inside". Happy Easter to everyone.

[Gary Rice]

Hi Mark,

Happy Easter!

I remember too my friend....


...but there are many MANY places where Easter is indeed still a happy time, even here in Lakewood. Churches have breakfast pot lucks, Easter egg rolls, and yes, people still dress up in bright pastels and bonnets.


My dad, whom you knew well, and who certainly thought the world of you, often chastened me when I started getting the long face. "Too much of that going on in the world, Gary!" he would say.

That's a BIG reason why I try to stay positive, even, and perhaps ESPECIALLY so, here on the 'Deck.

But even bigger reasons that I do so, are for my own well-being, and that of others.

Holidays can be tough. I get it. BELIEVE ME, I get it.

But what I GET is not always what I want to GIVE.

Back to the banjo.

[Stan Austin]

No broken strings on that Banjo!

[Dan Alaimo]

I think this relates to the gentrification topic. A survey of those who have moved out of town might be helpful to City government and organizations, although I suspect some won't look at it that way.

[Lori Allen _]

Mark, Good post.
I think in this day and age ,some tend to get too politically correct.
Even Cadbury took the word Easter off their packaging for Cadbury Eggs.

[Gary Rice]

The ongoing dialectic between principles and power is no better illustrated than this great little story about the Cadbury family. I've seen it repeated in several versions, so I cannot say if it ever really happened, but if it did, it certainly represents a tremendous and wonderful victory of principles over power.

Long ago, seems a large store wanted to expand, and buy up a little Quaker meeting house that stood in the way of their "progress". Supposedly, they sent the little meeting house a letter offering to buy the place for whatever they felt would be a fair price.

As the story goes, a few days later, the store received a letter from the meeting house, saying that they were there first, and wanted to stay there. Along with that comment, apparently there was a follow up comment offering to buy out the department store for whatever they felt would be a fair price! The note was supposedly signed "Cadbury".

If you read up on the Cadburys and their chocolate empire, you will discover that they were indeed a deeply faithful Quaker family. Normally, traditional Quakers believe that there is "That of God" in everyone and they were therefore champions of the underdog. While many, if not most Quakers embraced and accepted Jesus, their interpretation of religious thinking was quite different than mainstream Christianity. Many Quakers normally did not accept many religious holidays such as Christmas and Easter. They refused to use the typical "Monday, Tuesday" etc.. day names too, instead using "First Day, Second Day", etc...

(Quakers believed that ALL days should be Holy days, and not just a few designated times of the year; so removing "Easter" from Cadbury's eggs would make perfect sense to a Quaker who would not want to exploit religion for commercial purposes)

While I'm not sure whether or not the Cadbury candy company has any remaining connection to the original family, (Although at least one descendant of the family is apparently still in the chocolate business) I would believe that removing "Easter" from Cadbury eggs would be very much an act of respecting that original faith tradition, rather than an act of secularization.

There's always more to the story.

Back to the banjo...

[Lori Allen _]

Gary, thanks for the information.

[Valerie Molinski]

(Quakers believed that ALL days should be Holy days, and not just a few designated times of the year; so removing "Easter" from Cadbury's eggs would make perfect sense to a Quaker who would not want to exploit religion for commercial purposes)

That would make sense, but a quick google actually will show that the story about them removing Easter is fake.

http://www.snopes.com/cadbury-banned-easter/

[Lori Allen _]

Sorry. I heard it on the national news. You are right. Must be more of that fake news. Thanks for the input.

[Gary Rice]

Lori,Valerie:

Thank you both.

Or perhaps I should say "thank thee both"! See, in the 1600's, the English tried to end the old "Thee and Thou" speech (the original singular form of "you", which was itself originally a plural word) As Quakers believed that we are all unique Children of the Light, we should therefore NOT be addressed individually by the plural "you". Many Quakers continue to use plain speech (thee and thou) to this day.

I love this old saying, having roots in Quakerism:

"There are three sides to a story...

thine, mine, and Truth"

Let us never be afraid to work for that elusive third side to a story. It may be hard to find, but it's ALWAYS there waiting for us.

Back to the banjo...

[todd vainisi]

Mark,

I can imagine where you are coming from, but I'll tell you I know all the neighbors on my block and that we all help each other regularly. Gardens don't grow on their own - you gotta get out there and water them.