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Sunday, April 12, 2009; Page C06

THE REGION

Roiled by This Year's Easter Egg Roll


I would like to know whether anyone local -- from the Washington area -- was successful in obtaining tickets to tomorrow's White House Easter Egg Roll.

We have gone in the past, waited in line in the wee hours of the morning, sometimes in soaking rain or snow, and with that patience obtained tickets nearly each time we have tried.

This year marks the end of the Roll for most folks, I think.

With the White House's decision to distribute tickets online to make the event more available to people all over the country, the chances of getting tickets are now comparable to winning a Mega Millions lottery. It was an incredibly frustrating experience, starting at midnight the day of announced availability into the early evening of the same day, staring at the computer, refreshing the screen and waiting for the big moment. Sadly, the only new message I ever saw was: "Tickets are no longer available for the 2009 White House Easter Egg Roll."

I am not alone, by any means. In an effort to see whether anyone (near or far) got tickets, I checked Craigslist, where I found multiple desperate seekers who had similar infuriating experiences.

President Rutherford B. Hayes and his wife, Lucy, officially opened the White House grounds to the children of the Washington area for egg rolling on Easter Monday 1878.

For 130 years, it was for the children "of the area." Why did it have to change this year?


-- Terilynne Butler, Gaithersburg
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/co ... 02217.html