Every once in a while, readers, we writers are lucky to find a political story that, instead of unraveling into a heap of contention, or kicking off years of legal wrangling, gets tied up in a neat little bow of a quick, positive outcome. It seemed fitting, also, to share something like that with you on Easter, considering it’s the most hopeful, optimistic day on the Christian calendar.
In this case, the happy news arrives via the Washington Examiner, from their section called “Restoring America.” (I like the sound of it already!)
The Examiner’s writer begins by explaining the town of Easton, Pennsylvania, with a population of around 27,000, was having a slight problem with its Easter egg hunt this year.
A Pennsylvania town is fighting over whether to call its children's event an Easter egg hunt.
— Washington Examiner (@dcexaminer) April 17, 2022
Last Wednesday, you see, the city’s administrator, Luis Campos, informed the city council that they had trouble, right there in River City (Easton sits at the confluence of the Delaware and Lehigh rivers).
Campos told the councilmembers that, in his infinite wisdom, he had decided to remove the word “Easter” from any official, social media posts about the upcoming Easter egg hunt.
Campos spoke up at a Wednesday City Council meeting, announcing the revision out of a desire to reflect the city’s neutrality, according to Lehigh Valley Live . Campos revised the posts after a resident complained about the word’s Christian connotations, he said.
The resident, apparently, was concerned that using the word “Easter” might represent a violation of the separation of church and state.
Now, this is usually the point in the story where much consternation happens. Or, you know, legal battles erupt. But, as I said at the beginning, things didn’t go that way for Easton.
Sal Panto, the town’s mayor, checked in with the city attorneys, and on Thursday, it was all sorted out. As he wrote on Facebook:
After discussion with Council on Wednesday evening the Administration followed up with our attorneys and the word “Easter” will remain in our announcements about the Easter Egg Hunt.
Hizzoner added that the rain delayed events (I’m guessing that included the egg hunt) would take place Saturday (yesterday), which are put on by the Easton City Recreation and Neighborhood Programs department.
I second one of the commenters (who appears to be a local) on the mayor’s Facebook post:
“Glad ya grew a set of eggs yourself. Next thing ya know, we can’t say the word Christmas. It’s a shame [you] even had to have a discussion about this.”
I think the conclusion of this situation shows that things are moving in the right direction, and conservatives are making a difference on restoring sanity and common sense in this country — if only in a small way.
Thanks be to God.
Guess what? You can take a “stroll” around Easton yourself, with this nifty walking tour video. Enjoy!
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