A LOOK BACK:Reminiscing about the Easter of 1920

Easter is coming soon, so we should stop for a moment, remind ourselves what this holiday is all about and remember back to past Easter Sundays when we were growing up and to those who are no longer with us to celebrate the holiday..

This week we look back to an Easter when thousands of people arrived here to strike it rich on newly discovered black gold.

In some home here in Huntington Beach of 1920, I’m sure that there was the sounds of an Edison cylinder playing “Christ the Lord has Risen” through its large morning glory horn while the elders of the family listened and recalled their early Easters.

Judge Louis Copeland during Easter 1920 had completed plans for the annual sunrise celebration on the pier while other members of the Huntington Beach Church Federation arranged the program.

The program would include Victor Creamer opening the service with a bugle call at sunrise, but Creamer could not attend and it was quickly planned to have the people on the pier sing, “I Know That My Redeemer Liveth” instead.

On that cold April 4 morning, some 200 gathered to listen to Easter services, much like we continue to do today.

A prayer given by Rev. J.J. Woodson from the Talbert church followed the singing of the opening hymn.

Reverend C. Carey Willett of the First Baptist church read an Easter poem and a combined choir of several local churches sang “Hark the Herald Angels Sing,” followed by a reading on “The Resurrected Life.”

Rev. E.J. Harlow of our Christian church told those present about the “Gratitude for Our Risen Savior.”

Rev. J. Scott Willmarth of the Wintersburg Methodist church delivered a benediction that morning.

In case the weather that morning was bad, a provision was made to ring the bells at the Baptist church to let everyone know that the service would be held there.

That Easter, a cantata was presented in the downtown Methodist church that combined the choirs of the Methodist, Baptist and Christian churches.

This huge choir was placed under the direction of William Gallienne and R.C. Turner directed the orchestra for the cantata.

Turner was the choir director at the Methodist church.

The cantata drew one of the largest audiences ever assembled at the Methodist church for an Easter program.

The cantata was entitled “Life Everlasting” and was the best program given in this city up to that time.

The orchestra for the cantata included R.C. Turner, Joe Copeland, Edgar Ewing, Harvard Seaman, Cecil McCoy, R.H. Chapin and E.A. Neilson.

Bill Gallienne showed off his great vocal skills in a tenor solo entitled, “Ye Slow of Heart.”

For a more lighthearted Easter Sunday, you could watch the feature “The Road Called Straight,” starring Louis Bennison at the Princess Theatre on Main Street.

On the Thursday before Easter, Wintersburg Methodist church members cleaned out ditches at the church.

Lending a hand were A.H. Moore, E.A. Fox, B.A. Farrar, George Crane and Otis Taylor.

That Easter morning was especially memorable for Clinton Newland, as his wife gave birth to a baby girl, Annie Jane.

May Jackson of our chamber of commerce and her nephew spent Easter Sunday in Long Beach as guests of Jackson’s brother C.S. Scales.

The Paul Hallicy, L.T. Maddock and Russell Maddock families took a two-hour Sunday drive to Beverly Hills and L.T. Wells and his family drove to Capistrano that Easter Sunday to watch autos compete in a hill-climbing contest.

Over at the Christian Science on Eighth Street, a Sunday morning service entitled “Unreality” was held, and over at the Christian church, Rev. Harlow’s Easter service included “The Lord is Risen,” sung by Lucy Goddard prior to Harlow’s Easter message on Life Everlasting.

This year, many of our local churches will hold some type of Easter program just like the people of 1920 had done so many years earlier.