April 10th, 2009
The Weekend: An Easter Egg hunt

Zach Walther and the Cronkites.

By HAP MANSFIELD
Scene Editor

Here’s a bit of sweet news on our somewhat sour economy: Easter candy sales are expected to be up this year.

The Nielson Company, the folks who track what you buy, watch and eat, calls candy “recession proof.” This could be because a sweet treat is a cheap luxury compared to electronics, video games, clothing, jewelry and cars. The National Confectioners Association says it expects Easter sales for confectionary (chocolate, non-chocolate and gum) to reach $2 billion this year; up from 2008’s $1.846 billion.

Nielson also tells us that 70 percent of that $2 billion will be chocolate sales. America is very sweet on chocolate. In fact 71 million pounds of chocolate candy is sold during the week leading up to Easter. Only Halloween has more candy sales than Easter each year.

The other Easter staple would be eggs, and Progressive Grocer magazine reports that 61 million dozen eggs are sold on Easter week. Not surprisingly, it is the top egg-selling week of the year. Easter Saturday is the top buying day of the year for eggs followed by Good Friday.

There is another kind of Easter egg you may not be as familiar with, the “Easter Eggs” that are hidden features or novelties that programmers put into software. These can be on DVDs, CD’s or software. Usually the eggs are jokes, artwork, songs, animations, extra scenes, etc. You probably own DVDs with Easter Eggs, the Easter Egg archive lists 13,107 listed eggs. Go to www.eeggs.com for a full explanation and listing.

San Marcos is full of Easter eggs both the regular kind that get hidden in the back yard on Easter and the kind that are somewhat hidden treats for the eyes and ears. Here are a few of the good eggs for this weekend.

Friday, April 10

At 6:30 p.m., Texas State plays the second game in its baseball series against Southeastern Louisiana at Bobcat Field. General admission is only $6, and tonight may be the best weather for baseball, as the weekend is predicted to be a tad soggy.

The San Marcos Parks and Recreation Department is beginning JoyDance at the San Marcos Activity Center (501 East Hopkins) tonight at 7 p.m. JoyDance is a “non verbal, free dance/movement experience” and should be lots of fun and great exercise. There is a $5 fee to participate, or throw caution to the wind and spend $25 for the whole six-week series.

Musically, the choices are diverse. You can hear Molly Hayes at Wake the Dead Coffee House (1432 RR 12), the Triple Crown (206 North Edward Gary) features Hammer, Ethereal Architect and Die Among Heroes and Riley’s (8894 FM 1102) will have their kickin’, Texas Music Award nominated house band, Joel Hoffman.

If you want to hear the fresh, exciting direction that country music is taking in this decade, you need to wander down to the Cheatham Street Warehouse and see future superstars in the making, New Braunfels’ own Zach Walther and the Cronkites. You will rarely hear a more solid set of songs played any better. You could even ask for Walther’s favorite drink, which he mentioned in a fan interview as a “Waco Kid.” Don’t know what that is? Whiskey and Dr. Pepper. Boy Howdy!

Saturday, April 11

Bobcat Field will site of the last of the series of games between Texas State’s baseball team and Southeastern Louisiana. The game starts at 1 p.m.

A basket-full of family fun will be found at Pecan Park today as First United Methodist invites you to join its Family Egg Hunt. There will be a visit from the Easter bunny, a telling of the Easter story and, at 10 a.m., a gi-normous egg hunt with thousands of hidden eggs. Bring a big basket for collecting the eggs and a dollar for park use. Tote along your lawn chairs and a side dish for the potluck picnic after the hunt. You can splash around in the river after lunch or enjoy the beautiful location all afternoon. Pecan Park is host to a variety of amazing wildlife and the whole event should be lots of fun for all!

The EZ Country band will be furnishing the boot scootin’ tunes at the VFW Saturday Night Dance at 8 p.m. in beautiful downtown Geronimo. The EZ Country band has a fiddler who will knock your socks off. Call (830) 379-1973 or 303-9903 for reservations, and bust out the bolo tie and/or the red dress.

The ever thumpin’ Dr. G and the Mudcats will be at the Cheatham Street Warehouse tonight and Riley’s features Donny Waits. If you want to get your groove on, you can’t go wrong with the double bill of Funkotron and David Hasselhoff on Acid appearing at the Triple Crown. Funkotron are local faves and David Hasselhoff on Acid is a progressive, aggressive funk band from Kansas City. If you have ever been to Kansas City, you know how funky that can truly be. Yow! Hit me!

Sunday, April 12

Embassy Suites (1001 McCarty Lane) plays host to a community Easter worship celebration with the Promised Land Church at 11 a.m. this morning. They are expecting more than a thousand people for this inspiring event.

The Wine Cellar (corner of Hopkins and LBJ) has an Easter brunch today from 11 a.m.- 3 p.m. that is loaded down with delicious goodies. This includes succulent prime rib with rosemary au jus, roast chicken, glazed ham, their famous mac and cheese, eggs Florentine, eggs hollandaise, waffles, pancakes, omelets, a host of sides and a $12.50 bottomless Mimosa. There’s egg decorating for the kids, too. The brunch is $22.50 for adults, $12.50 for children under 15 and children under 5 eat for free. It’s always wise to call for reservations for something this awesome, so call (512) 805-WINE (9463) if you can and do so.

If you need a break after hunting for all those eggs (not to mention eating them), go on over the Wake the Dead Coffee House, where Bob Steine will work his magic on your tired muscles with a chair massage from 4-8 p.m..

If you just want to sit down and unbuckle your belt after that big Easter dinner, ABC Family is showing the classic “Sound of Music” at 6 p.m. Turner Classic movies has an Easter double header starting with the Fred Astaire/Judy Garland pic “Easter Parade” which has little to do with Easter, actually, but the song and dance is great. Then, at 8 p.m., “King of Kings” stars Jeffery Hunter as Jesus and Orson Welles pulls the pic together with his rich stentorian narration.

Or you could eat a few chocolate bunnies and look for Easter eggs in your DVDs. It’s all good. Happy Easter! Chag Pesach Same’ach! to all those celebrating Passover this week.