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Easter spirit spreads across county
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| Peter Parsons won the bonnet competition at Abingdon Day Centre |
THE young - and young at heart - enjoyed the Easter spirit as they swapped eggs and scoffed hot cross buns.
A host of events took place across the county, including bonnet parades, as school children headed off for the Easter break.
Sainsbury's, in the Orchard Centre, Didcot, delivered 250 individually wrapped buns to the pupils and staff at Hagbourne Primary School, who feasted on the buns on Thursday.
Headteacher Richard Jones said: "It was a great celebration. Each bun had an information label explaining the importance of the bun along with a card from the Diocese."
A Bicester Brownies group got an early Easter treat when their leader dressed up as a Easter bunny.
Julie King, who has been leader of 8th Bicester Brownies for just over a year, hired a bunny costume and gave the girls a choc-tastic surprise.
Ms King, 42, of Manston Close, said: "I had a basket of cream eggs and once they found me I rewarded them with one as a treat.
"We played rounders on the field behind the hall and other games and wanted them to have as much fun as we could squeeze in to an hour at the centre in Keble Road."
Some people were left disappointed following the cancellation of an egg rolling event at Shotover Country Park yesterday.
The forecast bad weather was enough for the day to be called off on safety grounds, but elsewhere there was still fun to be had.
An Easter Bunny was the star attraction for the 40 toddlers from Blewbury Toddler Group, each of whom received an Easter egg. The children were egged on by their parents during the race on Wednesday held in Blewbury Village Hall.
They decorated hats with mini Easter eggs and rabbit ears and also sang Easter songs at the annual event.
Organiser Catherine Lawrence said: "We hold the event every year but this year we had a lot more structure to the activities. They all had a great time and they all seemed to like the Easter bunny."
The event also raised £80 for the Blewbury Toddler Groups funds.
Meanwhile, the annual Easter Bonnet Parade at Batt Primary School, Witney, was a tribute to the inventiveness not just of the pupils but their parents as well, said headteacher Chris Payne.
"The parade is always a colourful affair and this year was no different," he said.
"I am always amazed at the incredible effort that the children and parents put in. They looked wonderful."
Chocolate eggs and hot cross buns will be enjoyed as part of Oxford Community Church's (OCC) Easter celebrations.
OCC, which meets weekly at the Kings Centre in Osney Mead and has a growing congregation of 400 people, will host a family service at 11am on Easter Sunday with free hot cross buns and Easter eggs.
A family fun day will take place at St Andrew's Church, Orchard Road, Botley, from noon to 3pm, with face painting, fancy dress competition, parachute games and refreshments.
OCC member John Levinson, said: "Both events will be fabulous fun for all the family. A lot of young people have a vague understanding of what Easter is really about - the death and resurrection of Christ - but very often the language of religion is too old for people to relate to.
"The OCC is a young and vibrant church and we aim to talk about love and hope in a way that people can relate to and understand.
"This year, that message will concentrate on 'death defeated' - in the sense that we are all much more than just molecules, and like Jesus, we live on after death.
"We feel that everyone has experiences of death and questions, and we hope we can help people to answer those questions through the church."
5:20pm Friday 21st March 2008
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