WHITE HOUSE EASTER EGG ROLL
The 144th annual White House Easter Egg Roll was held on April 1, 2024. The hot ticket event drew a record 40,000 people from across the country to the nation’s capital for fun and games. Since the 1870’s, children have participated in the tradition of pushing brightly colored eggs across the south lawn of the White House with wooden spoons. The celebration has withstood political polarization, conflict, and pandemics.
First Lady, Jill Biden’s” EGGucation” theme transformed the South Lawn and Ellipse into a school community, with fun and educational activities for children of all ages to enjoy. The south facade of the White House was adorned with large pastel-colored balloons, marked with STEM school subjects to highlight Dr. Biden’s belief that with education, “all students can soar”.
The American Egg Board stated that 64,000 eggs were used throughout the day, between the egg roll, the hunt, food served, and other activities. Braswell Family Farms in North Carolina supplied 40,000 of the eggs for the festivities, while the additional 24,000 eggs came from Sauder’s Eggs in Litiz, Pennsylvania. The highly coordinated process of preparing the dyed and boiled eggs took five days and a team of workers.
The lottery for the 2025 egg roll will open in March of next year. For more details, monitor the National Park Service site at https://www.nps.gov/whho/planyourvisit/easter-egg-roll.htm.
STUMPY'S LAST BLOOM
A hollow Yoshino cherry tree located on the south bank of the Tidal Basin in Washington, DC has become a viral attraction with residents and tourists flocking to see the tree affectionately known as “Stumpy” for its last bloom. Stumpy will be among the 300 trees removed for the Tidal Basin restoration project, expected to begin in late spring and early summer 2024. The little tree that could has become an icon in DC, bringing hope and unity to an otherwise divisive and polarized city.
Rising sea levels due to climate change have made the environment along the tidal basin unsustainable for many of the trees. Stumpy is little more than bark and a few branches at this point but the beloved resilient tree has gained such a fan following that a petition has been created to have it relocated rather than destroyed: https://www.change.org/p/save-stumpy-preserve-dc-s-beloved-symbol-of-resilience. At the very least, the public is hoping for a “Stumpy monument” in its place.
CHERRY BLOSSOM KITE FESTIVAL
Thousands of people from around the world gathered at the National Mall on March 30th to participate in the annual Kite Festival. The grounds around the Washington Monument were filled with activities, performances, competitions, and music, all part of the month-long National Cherry Blossom Festival. Kite fliers of all ages participated in the “Colors of the Wind” themed event, competing for prizes in several categories. The original Smithsonian Kite Festival began in 1967 founded by the National Air and Space Museum.
