Festival

Easter is a time of religious festivals and gatherings

The United Methodist Church, Woodland Presbyterian Church, Holy Rosary Catholic Church, St. Paul's Luthern Church, Woodland Christian Center, and Bayside Church of Woodland as well as St. John's American Lutheran Church and Calvary Chapel in Zamora and the Christian Church (Disciple of Christ) are all offering activities for their parishoners to mark the resurrection of Jesus. Woodland churches will be holding numerous Good Friday and Easter Day services as part of a weeklong Easter Week celebration. Some churches, such as American Lutheran, will also hold their annual Easter Egg Hunt on Saturday. Activities will start at 10:30 a.m. and include egg hunts, crafts and games. A hot dog luncheon will be served at 11:30 a.m. Easter is a time of springtime festivals and gatherings in Woodland and worldwide. In Christian countries Easter is celebrated as the religious holiday commemorating the resurrection of Jesus Christ, the son of God. But the celebrations of Easter have many customs and legends that are pagan in origin and have nothing to do with Christianity.Scholars, accepting the derivation proposed by the 8th-century English scholar St. Bede, believe the name Easter is thought to come from the Scandinavian "Ostra" and the Teutonic "Ostern" or "Eastre," both Goddesses of mythology signifying spring and fertility whose festival was celebrated on the day of the vernal equinox. Traditions associated with the festival survive in the Easter rabbit, a symbol of

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fertility, and in colored easter eggs, originally painted with bright colors to represent the sunlight of spring, and used in Easter-egg rolling contests or given as gifts.