Monday, April 12, 2004 State Easter eggs on display at White House GAINESVILLE, Ga. -- Eggs have become synonymous with the Easter season and the U.S. egg industry, through the American Egg Board, is helping to make the season enjoyable. The White House features prominently in activities promoted by AEB during the Easter season. Activities include presentation of a commemorative Easter egg to First Lady Laura Bush, coordination of a White House Easter Egg Display and the contribution of eggs for the annual White House Easter Egg Roll. AEB Chairwoman-elect Beth Schnell of Sparboe Farms and AEB President Lou Raffel presented the commemorative Easter Egg to Mrs. Bush on behalf of the egg industry. Joining in the presentation were artists from around the country who had created special Easter eggs for a White House display in the Visitors Center. This display, which has been part of the White House Easter decorations since 1994, features an egg from each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia. Artists, chosen by their individual states, decorate an egg with scenes depicting their state. The Illinois egg highlights Chicago landmarks; Pennsylvania's is an illustrated road map of the state while Georgia's egg depicts the peach and the Confederate Memorial Carving on Stone Mountain. All these activities lead up to the annual White House Easter Egg Roll held the Monday following Easter Sunday. The American Egg Board provided 5,500 colored eggs for use in this annual event as well as 1,000 caps and 1,000 aprons for volunteers assisting with the Egg Roll. A number of those volunteers are from the Virginia Egg Council in nearby McLean, Va. Paul Sauder of R.W. Sauder Inc. in Litiz, Pa., produced the 450-plus dozen eggs. The White House Easter Egg Roll is held on the South Lawn of the White House and is a free event. It's a tradition that dates back to 1878 under the administration of President Rutherford B. Hayes. The amount of eggs sold in the U.S. increases dramatically during the Easter season. AEB notes that in 2003, on average, 72.6 million dozen eggs were sold at U.S. supermarkets each week. However, that total jumped to 84.8 million dozen eggs sold during the week before Easter. During Easter week itself, egg sales reach 105.4 million dozen. Because of the large amount of eggs sold during the season, there are always many -- especially hard-cooked and decorated -- left over after all the various Easter activities. Taking this fact into account, the American Egg Board promotes the week after Easter as Egg Salad Week and offers recipes that use hard-cooked eggs as a main ingredient. Originally published Monday, April 12, 2004