Easter Bunny

The United Methodist Church of Savage is hosting Breakfast with the Easter Bunny Saturday, March 24 from 8 to 11 a.m. at 9050 Baltimore St., in Savage. Cost is $3 for one pancake, scoop of eggs and sausage; $6 for two pancakes, two scoops of eggs and two sausages. Beverages included. Bring your camera for pictures with the Easter Bunny. Call the office, 301-725-7630, with questions.

Principio UMC on Route 7 in Perryville will be hosting a Lunch and Card Party on Thursday, April 12 from 11:30 to 3:30. Cost is $10 per person. Reservations must be made by Monday, April 9. Call Barbara, 410-642-3197 Join The Perryville Lions Club on Saturday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. in Store 19 at the Perryville Outlet to get your photo taken with the Easter Bunny. Support the Perryville Lions Club by visiting and get a photo with the bunny for only $5. Happy Easter, Perryville!

The Easter Bunny is hard at work these days, producing the super-sweet array of rainbow-colored jelly beans, yellow-frosted marshmallow chicks and all manner of chocolate eggs and rabbits to fill the baskets of youngsters and the not so young.Richard Rudell is definitely not the Easter Bunny, but he is a dedicated assistant of that vernal rabbit in making this season a sweeter one for those with a taste for chocolate.Mr. Rudell's Log Cabin Candies on Bel Air Road (U.S. 1) in Fallston is in its peak sales and production period, when candy sales nationwide reach their height.

Families (and their four-legged friends) looking for Easter fun should check out the Baltimore Humane Society's Easter Eggstravaganza this Saturday, April 7, from noon until 3 p.m. Both kids and pets are invited to this Easter celebration. Parents can snap photos of their children and beloved pets with the Easter Bunny. Kids can hunt for eggs and play the I Spy Cat Detective game. There be a bake sale for humans, and your furry friends can enjoy ice cream from Tiki's Playhouse Doggie Ice-Cream Truck, Maryland's first ice cream truck for canines.

Thoughts on An Inflatable Pink Rabbit, Southbound, JFX Mary Sue Easter Bunny, Rooftop Colossus, Giant Pink Temptress: You suggest chocolates, crumpled foil, tradition. Oh Highness of the Highway, Seasonal Totem, Grinning Vessel of Promotion - Your appeal is puzzling. The Mary Sue Easter Bunny File Name: Mary Sue Height: 32 feet Weight: None of your business Birthplace: Inflatable Images, Cleveland Number of years on Naron Mary Sue Candy warehouse roof in Hampden: 3 Reason for being: To extend Easter greetings, and remind people to purchase Mary Sue cream-filled chocolate eggs Seen by: 103,000 motorists each day, according to candy company owner Bill Buppert Likes: All those appreciative e-mails written by moms and dads Can't tolerate: Too much wind - Buppert "collapses" Mary Sue whenever the forecast calls for brisk winds.

IT IS a difficult thing to rise up and decry those traditions and symbols that have become national customs. Although it is widely accepted that Mother's Day is a tool of crass commercial interests, a man attacks it (or forgets it) at his peril.Those lone voices that complain about the joylessness of Christmas are silenced by the rum-pum-pum-pum of Muzak carols in elevators.Little attention was paid to the courage of one man, Calvin Trillin, when he suggested a dozen years ago that we stop talking turkey on Thanksgiving.

BY MOST ACCOUNTS, independent counsel Kenneth Starr called Hillary Rodham Clinton before the Whitewater grand jury because he was miffed that it took the White House two years to produce records he'd subpoenaed. If this is true, then it is reasonable to ask, is this a proper use of the grand jury?After all, Mr. Starr had already questioned both Mrs. Clinton and the president under oath -- much as O.J. Simpson is being deposed in the civil actions against him in California. Moreover, we might ask, why did Mr. Starr summon only Mrs. Clinton, when the president had as much opportunity to tamper with the lost-and-found records as the first lady?

The Elkridge Volunteer Fire Department will hold an all-you-can-eat breakfast with the Easter Bunny from 7:30 a.m. to 11 a.m. April 2 at the firehouse, 6275 Old Washington Road. Eggs, pancakes, bacon, sausage, home fries, sausage gravy, toast, juices, coffee and tea will be served. There is a fee. Information: 410-313-4901. Also at the Fire Department, a Home Party Vendor Show, featuring consultants and demonstrations by representatives from Mary Kay, Longaberger, Pampered Chef, Avon and others, is scheduled from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. April 9. Lunch will be available.

This Saturday, the Easter bunny will visit Elkridge, stopping from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in front of the SuperFresh on Route 1, for the Fire Station Ladies Auxiliary Bake Sale.The Big Bunny will have Easter candy for the kids.On sale will be homemade baked goodies, sold for the benefit of the fire station addition.Raffle tickets for a 50-50 raffle also will be available.The drawing will take place May 7, when the auxiliary holds its second bake sale.Last year, members of the auxiliary were pleased to give the fire station a check for $10,000, to go toward the addition.

JOIN RANGER David DeVault at 10 a.m. Saturday for a mile-long nature hike along the B&A Trail Park, and you might catch an unusual sight: a rabbit sporting a pair of Nikes.Consider it an early sign of spring -- not only at the park, but at stores and malls, even a YWCA breakfast -- as the Easter Bunny makes the rounds ahead of the holiday.For details on the nature walk, call the park office at 410-222-6244.Other opportunities to catch the costumed creature will arise during the next weeks as the Easter Bunny appears at various spots along the trail to pose for pictures with children.

I saw the Easter Bunny Saturday at the Perryville Outlets with several members of the Perryville Lions Club. Lioness Peggy Morrison advised that you can have your picture taken with the Easter Bunny at the Outlets in Store 19 on Saturday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. The cost is $5 and your donation supports Lions Club projects in our community. Speedy recovery to Margaret Cifaldo, Perryville, as she has been on the sick list lately. Happy birthday to Sarah Bryanne Stanley, daughter of Steve and Michelle Stanley of Conowingo, as she celebrated March 31. Mike Lowe, North Main Street, enjoyed birthday greetings April 1. And his cousins, Jim Sice and Alice Sice, celebrated their birthdays April 2. The Ladies Auxiliary to VFW Post 8185 sponsored the quarterly dinner meeting of the District 10 Ladies Auxiliary on April 3. Post 8185 Auxiliary President Janet Mortus welcomed District President Dee Russo of Earlville along with the other officers of District 10. Following the dinner and short business meeting, the election of officers was held for 2012.

On March 19, the Greater Baltimore Highlands Community Association met for its monthly meeting. State Sen. Nancy Jacobs, a Republican who represents District 34 that includes Harford and Cecil counties, was the guest speaker. Jacobs, a West Virginia native who is the only woman running for the 2nd Congressional District seat now held by U.S. Rep.C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger, answered questions about taxes, gas prices and the economy. She urged everyone to vote in the April 3 primary election.

Sunday, March 25 Fundraiser The Goshen Farm Preservation Society's annual "Java & Jazz Event," a fundraiser to benefit the restoration and preservation of Goshen Farm in Cape St. Claire, will be held from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. at St. Margaret's Episcopal Church, 1601 Pleasant Plains Road in Annapolis. Information: goshenfarm.org. ArtFest From performances to art demonstrations, hands-on projects to gallery happenings, this free event will run from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. at Maryland Hall for the Creative Arts, 801 Chase St. in Annapolis.

The United Methodist Church of Savage is hosting Breakfast with the Easter Bunny Saturday, March 24 from 8 to 11 a.m. at 9050 Baltimore St., in Savage. Cost is $3 for one pancake, scoop of eggs and sausage; $6 for two pancakes, two scoops of eggs and two sausages. Beverages included. Bring your camera for pictures with the Easter Bunny. Call the office, 301-725-7630, with questions.

Easter weekend is coming up, and there are a lot of events going on. From meeting the Easter Bunny to playing with real rabbits to dyeing eggs with natural dyes, there's something for everyone. Check out this sampling of local activities: Bunny BonanZOO The Maryland Zoo in Baltimore is hosting this event 10 a.m.-2 p.m. today through Sunday. Entry is free with regular admission of $10-$16. There will be a continuing Easter egg hunt where kids collect plastic eggs and trade them for candy eggs at the Waterfowl Lake Pavilion.

When she was growing up, Jen Kitchen's Easter baskets were "always, always, always" brimming with candy - the foil eggs, the jelly beans nestled in synthetic grass, the sturdy chocolate rabbit. But this weekend, her three young children will get nothing of the sugary sort in their baskets. No cream-filled eggs. Not one Peep. "Not even one little jelly bean," the Mount Airy mother says. Instead, Kitchen's twins, who are almost 4, and her 2-year-old son will get baskets stuffed with movies, dolls and plastic eggs jingling with pennies.

Gray skies, still-bare trees and aged tombstones would suggest a scene to inspire the pen of Stephen King and not the playful shenanigans of the Easter Bunny.But guess who showed up at Loudon Park Cemetery yesterday?The Easter Bunny and some 300 candy-loving youngsters, who took part in the cemetery's first egg hunt -- part of Loudon Park's efforts to show the neighborhood and the city that the family-owned and -operated graveyard "has a heart.""Our reason for doing this is to be a part of the community," said Marie Loewer-Nave, director of family services at the cemetery.

The Easter Bunny, Easter candy, Easter baskets and Easter eggs will be making their first appearance of the season at the 15th annual Junior Woman's Club Easter Bazaar tomorrow.Beginning at 9 a.m. at the Carroll County Career and Technology Center, the bazaar will play feature to some 70 vendors from Carroll County and surrounding areas.Craft items including dried flower arrangements, Easter candy, woodworks, stencil clothing and jewelry will be on display and available for purchase until 4 p.m.In addition to the many crafts, hungry shoppers will be able to visit the cafeteria, where lunch platters, ala carte items and an assortment of homemade pies and cakes will be available.

Children can have their photos taken with the Easter Bunny at the Mall in Columbia, 10300 Little Patuxent Parkway, today through Saturday. Hours are noon to 6 p.m. today and 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday-Saturday. The visit and photo with the Easter Bunny are free, with no reservations required. For more information, go to themallincolumbia.com. Relay for Life will hold a yard sale from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. April 17 on the grounds of Howard's east Columbia branch library, 6600 Cradlerock Way. Vendors are welcome.

What: Hop into spring with an Easter tradition at the Strasburg Rail Road. Ride with Peter Cottontail on a steam train as it travels 45 minutes from the East Strasburg Station to Paradise, Pa., and back. Where: Strasburg Rail Road, Route 741 East, Strasburg, Pa., 17579. When: Friday, April 2, Saturday, April 3 and Sunday, April 4. Trains depart hourly from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Friday and Sunday. On Saturday, trains depart hourly from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. and at 6 p.m. How much: $16 for adults and children age 12 and older; $9 for children ages 3-11; $2 for children under 3. What's nearby: Strasburg Rail Road also offers rides on a miniature steam train, as well as behind-the-scenes tours of the mechanical shop where trains are built and refurbished.