Like the fictional Hooligan in The Case of the Missing Dinosaur Egg, the Obamas’ Portuguese water dog, Bo, has appeared wearing pink-and-white bunny ears—and looking slightly embarrassed. Since the Nixon administration in the 1970s, the Easter Bunny himself has also stopped in, usually played by a White House staff member.
THE EGG ROLL TODAY
Today, in spite of the name, egg rolling is only a small part of what goes on at the annual event, which attracts about 35,000 people. Activities may include basketball, tennis and yoga, as well as cooking demonstrations and storytelling by celebrities. In recent years, J. K. Rowling has read from her Harry Potter books, President Barack Obama has read Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak, and actress Reese Witherspoon has read The Best Pet of All by David LaRochelle.
Among recent performers are Justin Bieber, Fergie, and the cast of Glee. On hand since 1889 has been “The President’s Own” United States Marine Band, whose repertoire includes a John Philip Sousa song called “Easter Monday on the White House Lawn.”
Most of the guests at the White House Easter Egg Roll get tickets through a free lottery conducted online. If you want to try your luck, go to www.recreation.gov to sign up a few weeks before Easter, usually early in March. In 2012, about one in eight people who wanted tickets got them. To keep the crowds manageable, guests are assigned a time slot and permitted to stay only about ninety minutes.
If you want more information on the White House Easter Egg Roll today, a good source is www.whitehouse.gov. For more on the event’s history, check out a great article by C. L. Arbelbide in the spring 2000 Prologue, a publication of the National Archives, “With Easter Monday, You Get Egg Roll at the White House.” It is also available online at www.archives.gov.
The Case of the Missing Dinosaur Egg Page 8