Egg hunts and moo cows, Easter 1944

JERRY PERSON

Easter has now passed and I hope everyone enjoyed the day in his or

her own special way: attending church services, having the family

over with friends at the dinner table or just relaxing while the

cares of the day go by.

This week we’ll continue our look back at how our residents

celebrated this special holiday.

Easter arrived on April 9, 1944 -- our country was still at war,

and rationing of food at home was the norm.

We’ll begin when several members of the Windsor Club got out of

their beds early Saturday morning, April 8, to head over to Lake

Park.

Their assignment that early morning was to hide 1,000 colored eggs

before the children began arriving for the club’s eighth annual

Easter egg hunt.

I’m sure most of you remember trying to find those colored eggs

when you were a kid.

In charge of this popular civic event were Howard Robidoux, Dr.

Douglas Hough and Jack Robertson.

I wonder who had the most fun, the kids or the parents watching

their kids scramble for the hidden eggs.

Meanwhile, the students of the eighth grade at Central Elementary

School were treated to their own Easter fun at Memorial Hall on April

7 as the PTA sponsored an early Easter program.

Seventy eighth-grade students were on hand to participate in a

hilarious “broom dance” in which the object was not to be the last

person dancing with the broom.

Memorial Hall had been gaily decorated with primroses and Calla

lilies and the music was provided by Harding Ballough.

There were smiles on the students’ faces after they finished the

last piece of cake brought in by Minnie Eader and washed down by four

cases of Pepsi cola.

The sixth-grade class of Alice Sturgeon held its own Easter party

at school.

Helping at the party for the students and their mothers were Fae

Clapp and Beatrice Carpenter, with Dennis Cushing acting as the

master of ceremonies.

An exceptional program was presented, which included a piano solo,

“Hungary,” played by Donna Oldenberg.

Bobby Van Patten, Joe Hawkins, Ray Stallings, John Noah, William

Rogers, Tommy King and Les Prinslow formed the boys’ choir that sang

“All Through The Night” and “The Marine Hymn.”

The lead for Easter has always been our churches, and this year

the Wintersburg Methodist church held a special candlelight service.

The church choir was composed of Eva Beem, Maxine and Dorothy

Murdy, Mary Bailey, Willenne Rowley, Alton Hall, and John and Jack

Murdy, under the direction of Gladys Woods.

“The Meaning of the Empty Tomb” was the sermon by the Rev. Evelyn

Caudill of the Church of the Foursquare Gospel’s morning service

after they held an Easter sunrise service at 6 a.m.

Not everything was so solemn that Easter; there were some

light-hearted moments too.

Take for instance what happened to Dorsey Fishburn of Delaware

Street when one of his 12 hens laid an egg.

Not just any egg, but one that weighed a half-pound and was seven

and three-fourth inches around and three and a half inches long.

This egg yielded four yolks, and I’ll bet that was some omelet

Fishburn had.

The next light-hearted event resulted in the saving of Sump Hole

Sue.

Huntington Beach Police Officer Howard Robidoux responded to an

excited phone call that a pure bred Guernsey cow had wandered off and

got herself stuck in a sump hole at 14th Street and Main.

Remember this was at a time when meat was rationed, and as

Robidoux looked at the trapped bovine, he must have had visions of

New York and prime rib steaks on his mind while he wrestled the poor

cow free of the black ooze.

Since no one came up to claim her, Robidoux started to walk her to

his home.

But his good luck ended as J. Sherman Denny of the Huntington

Beach Company recognized Bossy as one of his company’s herd.

I’m sure old Bossy’s stomachs were a little upset by her

unfortunate experience that day.

So you see that Easter has always been special for the people of

Huntington Beach and to one frightened Guernsey.

* JERRY PERSON is a local historian and longtime Huntington Beach

resident. If you have ideas for future columns, write him at P.O. Box

7182, Huntington Beach, CA 92615.