A LOOK BACK:Our community celebrates Easter 1945

Today we will journey back to when Easter marked a time of hope as the war in Europe ended and the prospect of victory in Japan was in sight.

The year was 1945, and this Easter would be celebrated April 1.

The nation as well as our town was still on rationing and many of the foods we take for granted today were hard to come by.

How many of you are old enough to remember ration books with those stamps you tore out or those blue-and-red tokens your mother used to buy meat and sugar?

One way the lady of the house could preserve fruits from her victory garden was canning, but to get enough sugar you had to apply to the Huntington Beach War Price and Rationing Board.

Your mother would fill out paperwork, namely OPA form R-341 and submit this with a “spare stamp 13” from War Ration Book Four and then wait for the application to be approved. Then she would be sent a sugar coupon.

In 1945, President Roosevelt asked the nation to donate old clothes to the United National Clothing Collection drive for the refugees in Europe.

Here in Huntington Beach, William Gallienne directed this drive, and he appointed Bud Higgins as its chairman.

Scoutmaster Joe Axton and members of Boy Scout Troop No. 1 were out that Easter collecting newspapers for the nation’s paper shortage.

Meanwhile, a scout troop and cub pack, sponsored by the Wintersburg Methodist Church, came on the scene over at Ocean View.

Flavel Kellogg was made scoutmaster while Mike Vidal became cub master. Each held their weekly meetings in the scout cabin on Ocean View’s school grounds.

The children of our town that year would have to forgo the annual Easter egg hunt sponsored by the Windsor Club because of the scarcity of candy.

But there was a special showing of a replica of Switzerland’s Mount Wetterhorn at the Casa de Curios store, 116 Main St., that was created by Madge Francis.

And little Bonnie Erwin of 512 Huntington St. held an Easter egg hunt party at her home for her friends. Her guests included Jerry Flaws, Jackie Robertson, Diane Bartlett, Constance Denny, Gerald Camp, Kae Erwin and Roy John Oliver.

A young Patricia Thiery celebrated her eighth birthday with a party at her home at 714 11th St. where her guests played games, won prizes and tasted one of the two angel food cakes with chocolate frosting. Each cake had eight candles on it for Patricia to blow out.

The children at Central Elementary School also held Easter parties in each of their classrooms — with a little help from their moms.

Not to be outdone, our city and our chamber of commerce hosted an Easter Musicale Pageant at Memorial Hall.

Ralph Hawes and his girls’ choir performed several numbers. The choir included Margaret Been, Shirley Clemens, Patricia Coe, Patsy Hawes, Patricia Hackler, Barbara Whitfield, Dorothy and Mildred Hawes, Pearl Ream, Irene Weinheimer, Theresa Wuerer, and Robbie Young.

A large cross took center stage and served as the theme of this year’s musicale, which included the famed Pierce Brothers quartet and Stanley Smith playing, “The Holy City” on his trumpet.

Father Jerome O’Neill conducted a special Memorial High Mass at Sts. Simon and Jude Catholic church, 321 10th St., commemorating servicemen from the parish and the community who died in combat in 1945.

Members of this choir performed “Christ the Lord is Risen Today,” and a special arrangement of Schubert’s “Ave Maria.”

When the mass ended, the congregation and the choir sang “God Bless America.”

Services over at the First Methodist Church, 401 11th St., included several numbers performed by the church choir assisted by Edna Siemers.

“Resurrection” was the topic of this Easter sermon given by Walter McCleneghan.

The Christian church at 8th Street and Orange Avenue presented an Easter morning pageant.

The theme of 1945’s pageant was “From the Holy Sepulcher” and featured Margaret Pryor, Frances Garvin, Betty Jo McDaniels, May Frost, Olive Groover, Jean Coker and Sylvia Jenkins.

The Church of Christ held an Easter service in the Woman’s Clubhouse, 418 10th St. The service included a sermon by guest speaker Claude Thurman.

Foursquare Gospel Church, 723 Lake St., held a 6 a.m. sunrise service, which included a message by guest speaker Rev. Catherine Blom, pastor of the Church of God. At the church’s evening service, Rev. Evelyn Caudill’s message was “The Power of the Risen Christ.”

Easter is about a big miracle that happened long ago, so it seems appropriate there was a little miracle in Huntington Beach during 1945’s Easter season.

On Monday morning over at the Hardy home, 726 Main St., Mollie Hardy dropped a bunch of broccoli she had just purchased from the Standard Market, 126 Main St., into a pan of water and out came a set of keys hidden inside the greens.

Mollie called the market and the clerk told her that a customer had turned the store upside down looking for his keys. Mollie returned the keys to the store and hopefully the customer received his Easter gift.

A small miracle to be sure, but a true Huntington Beach Easter miracle after all.