An Easter Roundtable: Traditions, Treats, and Childhood Nostalgia

We've done every other holiday , so it's time to do Easter . Before we get into the show , make sure you guys peep all the sponsors in the pre-roll and the post-roll , all small business owners . They're all great supporters of the show . Please support them and support Ride Home Rants , the podcast .

Without further ado , we bring you the very first annual 2024 Easter Roundtable . I have a bunch of great guests who have been on one other time , up to five or six other times . Some of them have been on together . Some of them are just meeting each other for the first time , so we have a great panel here .

They're going to give you a lot of insight to their backgrounds with Easter and all things Easter related . Without further ado , I'm going to let the guests take it away . They're going to introduce themselves , tell you about themselves and where they're from . Jj , let's start with you .

I've worked at the Department of Veteran Affairs for the past seven years , but my main passion is my business , opened Eyes , which I'm the executive director of , and we do consultant-based work and program delivery and implementation on leadership , development and diversity , equity and inclusion okay , chris marsco , you're next hey , I'm chris marsco .

Got my start as a college level coach at youngstown state under bo pelini , and then I've also spent time at niles mckinley and uh , most recently matthews high school , and this year I'll be at Mineral Ridge .

Love to laugh , so I've been looking forward to hanging out with you guys tonight and having a good conversation .

Have a good year , okay .

So a lot of different information we're going to get from everybody today . But , as always , again , I am Fiddy , the special guest host , manager of the Ride Home Rants podcast . So we're going to start with JJ and then go to Brandon , chris , shannon , jason and Rusty on the order of the questions .

Okay , so number one where does Easter rank as your favorite holiday in the year ? Now , there's a lot of holidays in the year , but where does easter rank in your personal favorites ? Jj ?

So I mean , if you messed it up , it was just so embarrassing because you're up there in front of the whole church trying to say it and it's just the worst thing ever .

I'm a Halloween , christmas , thanksgiving type of guy , first and foremost . So you know it probably comes like right after that . It's still an important thing . I appreciate the deeper meaning behind Easter and so , yeah , I'd rank it around there .

So that's always a special day and this is no slight to Easter . But I'd probably have to place it third . And it's just a calendar thing too . The weather is sometimes nice , sometimes not . But Thanksgiving I'd put one you got football , family and food , hard to beat that in my priority list .

And then Christmas I'd say it's just a little bit over Easter because you got the hype . There's hype , there's songs , there's decorations , more build up . And then do love Easter , though Now that I'm not in college I'd say it's probably surpassed Halloween okay , shannon , how about you ?

But as I've gotten older I've kind of gotten away from those type of things . From the religious or spiritual side , I'm still a spiritual person but I pray and do those things every day . So certain holidays you know that are have that religious background to it kind of just go to the bottom for me for that reason .

But I am an expecting parent , I'm about to have my first child and I feel like because of that I'm gonna get that childlike excitement back again to do like the easter egg hunts , diet eggs , create a basket , all types of things like that . So right now it's low , but if we do this podcast next year that might , might change .

But congratulations to all of you who are going to be parents again or parents for the first time . So to the newly founded dad in the group for number four , jason , take it away on this question when does Easter rank as one of your favorite holidays ?

And you know , coloring Easter eggs and all the you know the Easter bunny and the whole thing , that that that kind of adds to the excitement . I don't think any , you know , they're all kind of the same . To me there's like certain food for this one or that one and then like other Thanksgiving , that one's , you know , pretty awesome .

But if the kids get into it it definitely adds to it . And my house is pretty excited about the Easter bunny and colored eggs .

So we had Thanksgiving , christmas and then Easter was the big one , so , but now everybody's dying off . I don't want to sound crass , but so now we're having to try to redevelop it and reorganize it amongst our relatives . So we're bringing it , we keep that tradition . So now we have we .

It kind of rotates to who's going to host it and everything else , but it's more of a traditional thing , um , but the best thing is it's spring's knocking on the door , man , so it's baseball , softball season , so it's it's opening the door to that . So it's spring's knocking on the door , man , so it's baseball softball season , so it's opening the door to that .

So it's a whole other thing . Christmas is nice , but you know you got to get through January and February . Now we're coming in here in March and April and it's like we know what's next . So maybe snow until June , but it's opening the door to a whole new season and it's more of a traditional thing for us .

So in your opinion , because Easter , you know , has been in March , it's been in early April , it's been in late April , Like what is the best month and you know date , in your opinion to have Easter JJ .

probably say April , just because I mean , well , we're in Ohio , so the weather , I mean it could be snow or it could be 60 , 70 degrees . So I mean it's just I don't know , I'm just used to . It just seems like it should be in April . But it's just a personal preference for me .

So since I've been older and realizing like Easter happens in March , sometimes like when does this happen ? Is this something new ? But yeah , I don't know . Know , it's just the association april and easter seem to be be like connected . It's like peanut butter and jelly . You know what I mean .

I don't whether you believe in global warming or not , but it's like not as miserable to live up here anymore , like the weather is kind of getting more mild , more early , so I don't really have a problem with it being as early as it is now , because you can still get a nice sunny day where it's beautiful out . But uh , I have another reason .

I really like Easter so much too too , not just their religious aspects , but normally works in conjunction with the Masters too . And , like Rusty said , you know , that kind of means springs right around the corner , and so I kind of like when it falls , like you know , back to back or when it works well with the Masters .

But I like that Associating it with April , like Brandon says . I don't know , it just seems right to me .

Plus , I also associated with spring break in college . You know , spring break was a little wild , but that's not what this podcast is about . But I always thought of that . I was looking forward to april for that reason , like we're getting a break , we're getting out of here , we're going somewhere warm , so I'm gonna vote .

April is the best time to celebrate easter okay , jason , what about you ?

So later the better .

It's a funny thing , though , when I was , when I was going through these topics and what we were going to come up with here , I thought back to and some of you were in college at this time , I remember but easter of 2008 was the earliest easter in like 150 years , and it was actually like in , I think , the second or third uh weekend of march , to the

point that when I was in college at bethany , our spring break coincided with easter . It was like the craziest thing ever , and that easter , I think , according to the calendar , won't happen again for like another hundred years . Being that early , I want to say it was like march 17th , that's how early that was , but that's uh , it was a little cold that year .

We'll just say that , so , all right . Next one , and everybody here is a foodie , and we're going to start off with jj because he is a foodie here . If you had to pick , what is your one favorite easter food ?

Every holiday you're incorporating some type of pasta I don't know easter and pasta just sounds right to me , um , probably more than anything else , but at a time , like I said , when I was eating more pork and that I probably would have said , yeah , I incorporate a little bit of ham in there , but pasta is my top what is ?

So the recipe's been passed , so as long as I have that sauce , I can do anything . All right , I could do any type of noodles . You just give me the noodles , I don't care what they are Bowtie , rigatoni , whatever and I'll pour that sauce on , and that gives enough fulfillment for me .

So we got , you know , we lay it out , we go crab legs , cod , salmon . You know we basically do seven fishes . So I'm gonna spoil myself and say , say Good Friday and have the crab legs , because Easter's kind of hit or miss with me food wise .

We'd make so many eggs like you can only die , but so many and some of those getting cracked and turned into deviled eggs , and that was just really , really good . My grandma used to make them all the time , so that's what I remember the fish fry on friday and a couple days later cracking those eggs , making deviled eggs okay , jason , what , uh ?

That was the main statement . Man , that was the thing . But , um , ham and prime rib . But yeah , good friday was always another . It kind of extended from good Friday . And who doesn't love a good fish fry ? So you know , you get that whole change from the fish to the gorging yourself on various meats and everything else on Easter .

But it was ham and prime rib on Easter which made it really , really something to look forward to . It was really good .

As an example , a lot of people take trips , go to sporting events events baseball or basketball , golf they go out to eat or just do numerous different things . Why do you think Easter is this type of holiday that's so relaxed , even though it's so meaningful in the consideration of the religious realm ? What is your take on this ?

So I think since times have like really been changing , the holiday just got a little bit more and more relaxed okay , brandon , what's your um you know , what's your take on this .

I think it's the somberness of you know , you know , especially if you're a believer in Christ , you know just the , the , the , the three days , resurrection , you know , it's just kind of like this mode of emotion that you go through , and so I don't know it . Just , an Easter is supposed to be the uplifting .

You know , we rise , we rise on this day and there's something about it that's communal and family oriented and it's not about presents , it's not about really anything like that . Although you know my parents , you know , know , they just brought over an easter basket for my son and it was almost like christmas and I'm like what the hell is this like ?

You get me , you got toys and stuff and all this other stuff and they didn't even bring me anything . So I kind of felt a little salty about that . But anyway , that's beside the point , um , but yeah , I think that really has a lot to do with it . It's just a deeper meaning .

It's more of a reflective time , um , but nonetheless , uh , you know , I , I I do appreciate it as a relaxed type of holiday , instead of the hustle and bustle of other ones that you typically go through sure , chris .

If you understand it from the you know calendar , in terms of Jesus , I mean , it's a Easter day , is a happy day , but uh , the lead up to it is , you , you know , very quiet , quiet in the church , you know , no one's talking , lights are dimmed .

So I think that has a lot to do with it and you know , a lot of the family passing also kind of adds to it .

I feel like you know some of the people who may have left our lives at this point or were part of that generation we're getting together was really really , really important , and not that it's not still in some families and whatnot , but I feel like certain traditions along the way or certain uh things that you uphold might not be as strong necessarily .

Um , secondly , I think the expectations it's not christmas like . There's , like I said , the lead up after thanksgiving to christmas . Some people skip Thanksgiving and I feel like the expectations make that hype what it is .

I feel like there's no hype around Easter and the weather has a lot to do with that too , like you're kind of if it's cold outside , it's not really like , hey , let's go outside and do something crazy for it , and you know , if it's nice you might sit outside .

Um , whether you practice any type of faith or not , it just seems more just chill for some reason , because even thanksgiving , you know that's , I feel like the big focus on that is the food .

And then you get to christmas and there there's a spiritual aspect to that too , but it's overshadowed by the present , some things like that where I feel like easter , there's just a balance of it all . There's a spiritual aspect to that too , but it's overshadowed by the present and things like that where I feel like Easter , there's just a balance of it all .

There's a little balance of like a little focus on the food , a little focus on the spirituality portion and the presents come from , you know , the Easter egg hunts or getting a basket or something like that . So I just feel like the focus changes a little bit more .

But , like they're saying , you know , as some of our elders have passed on , they were the ones who really carried on a lot of those traditions and made sure the family got

together . So sometimes I feel like that tradition part kind of dies out and then comes back again with each generation . So I feel like kind of ebbs and flows okay , jason , what's your opinion on this ?

Like Independence Day , 4th of July , it's like fireworks and it's a party , but there's not a lot of thought on what it really is . And Christmas it's presents and it's this and that , but there's not a lot of thought as to what the holiday really means .

I think this one , because there isn't a lot of that the fireworks and the gifts there is more awareness and reflection of what the holiday is , is for what the day is for . Um , and then brandon also said the word rise .

That's not what I was thinking too like , because , like change of season and again what the day represents , it feels like kind of a liftoff to a new season . The weather is changing , kind of like a new energy coming around and it just has kind of a refreshing feel of it for me .

It's like man , we got over this ordeal , especially in this part of the world with the , with the weather and everything else , and it just plays on that mindset that you know , I I'm . I hear I'm going to get corny and symbolic . Ok , here's Jesus coming out of the grave . Here we are coming out of the winter .

We're going into a new season where you know it's the end of the , it's the end of the multiple back to back to back to back to back holidays too . So , you , you got a little bit of a breather . People can enjoy it for what it is . And then , um , you know the season is changing . It is getting nicer out , um , and you know people can breathe .

The kids are getting ready to finish up school . That ties into it . Um , it does get a little crazy with the expectations of the kids , with the gifts . It has turned into some . In some cases it can turn into a second Christmas . But as the kids get older they realize that's not what it is and it makes it a whole lot easier on us .

So definitely for sure , for sure . That's I mean . Everything everybody said ties it all in .

You're talking nhl hockey as well , you know , and then you're talking about golf . I think the sports tie into it as well , you know . And then you're talking about golf . I think the sports tie into it as well , because they can't put those off because of timing reasons and they play normally on all their holidays .

So I think , because of the weather is nice , people want to go . Not too many people , I don't think , want to go to a sporting event on Thanksgiving or Christmas or New Year's . So I think that does tie into it as well . And I think you're right , the change in the weather .

Students finish in school , things like that , and we're going to kind of go back to this here in a little bit . So the really the thing we all want to talk about is what everybody's going to do for Easter this year .

So , whether you're doing something or nothing hanging out in your pajamas all day or , you know , wrestling the Easter bunny , you know , let's hear it . So , jj , what are you doing ?

Probably is gonna be pasta for me , um , so we'll , we'll see what else . I'll throw in some collard greens too .

You know , nothing too too too wild this year , but just kind of family time and , um , of course I told you my lady's pregnant , she's sick so she's not doing you know she's having a hard time right now . So , um , we're probably just gonna keep it pretty basic this year sure , I definitely get that , chris .

Easter egg hunts are really cool . So we're going to hide some eggs around the house , some goodies for him . Really enjoy that Probably . Cook up some breakfast and bunny-shaped cinnamon rolls or pancakes or something like that , and then go to church , go over to

my mom's house after to celebrate with her side of the family , and then we're going to go eat ravi ravioli at , uh , my wife's grandpa's at nighttime . I'm just going to eat and reflect and be happy and , you know , spend time with family . Uh , I think Shannon mentioned it earlier about new traditions and stuff .

So you know , we we have gone through , unfortunately , a lot of loss and you know , all parts of our family , but , uh , you know , having little one at home and everything that he needs now , it's a real special thing .

We were going to have an Easter egg hunt , but I don't know what the weather is going to be like , so it might be an indoor egg hunt situation going on . So we're all trying to figure out how we're going to make that happen .

But this year we're going to try to get the adults involved and make some eggs for the adults , you know , with a little maybe adult beverage or something like that . Many , many bottle inside the egg . So that's going to be something a little different this year , but that's mainly what we plan on doing .

It'll be a busy day , it'll be crazy , and I .

Hopefully you don't have to go fire anything no , I don't have to fly , but it's .

So I'm probably gonna hang at home for a while and then , um , when the kids get home , we will , we'll , you know , we'll hang out at the house , we'll eat there will be plenty of leftovers , um , because I've got some stuff here for them and then , um , we'll go from there and then they're off school . Still , they finish off spring break on monday .

Like I said , we're getting ready for noah's birthday , so it's going to be pretty busy . And it's not a joke april fool fools . He was born on april 1st . Nobody believed us when we said her water broke back then and then , lo and behold , it's like oh what , you had a baby . Oh , you didn't believe us . So here he is , 21 years later . He's killing it .

He's killing it and I can . I can , um , I can feel for you guys in erie , because I fly there every morning . So , yeah , I'm familiar with that . Um . So , and get ready to be inundated in a week with all the eclipse people too , with all this stuff they're doing up there , cause we're doing it here too .

It was in the high 70s and I remember on Good Friday I went out to actually watch Penn State scrimmage at their home facility in State College . On that Saturday I remember coming up to downtown Willoughby and hanging out for the day it was almost 80 degrees and I remember on that Sunday it was like 75 degrees . Actually we had Easter outside .

It was so nice , so , um , but definitely interesting . What everybody's going to do . So this one , um , and when , everyone's gonna have to kind of think here um , you know , what is the one most unique Easter that you've ever had ? Whether you went somewhere , did something very different , something crazy happened , you know , or something of that .

Such like , what is the one Easter that stands out to you the most ? Jj , you got to go first on this one , so I got to put you on this one . You have a very unique Easter to tell everybody about .

we can't make up our own times . Obviously I'm creating new traditions with my son and new memories with my son , but it's still in my head that , wow , you're never going to have . You remember those Easter's you used to have as a kid . Um , when you're a little bit carefree , and your family , you know all your family members that you were close to .

You know everybody was alive , everybody was at the table , everybody was cooking , everybody was doing that stuff . So it's pretty much more so those , those stories and those Easter's that I that I remember and I miss the most .

So I can't really think of anything else that really sticks out , but more so the childhood nostalgia of the Easter's that I used to have .

I remember , uh believe tiger won one of his masters on easter sunday and uh , I just remember everyone was like in front of the TV in hysteria , we were yelling , and then we all hopped on the Wii it had just come out not

too long ago and we all got on , played Tiger Woods golf against each other and it just , I don't know it was unlike any other . It was never recreated . It just happened one time for the one time and it was a good time .

But on monday we celebrate dingus day , and I don't know if they celebrate that in other areas , but it's pretty much a Polish holiday , I guess you want to say , and like everybody has off from work , or most people have off from work , and you're just like hanging out , you know having adult beverages and whatnot , and just you know , going to the different bars ,

learning about Polish culture and different dances and stuff . So it's really a cool community event , although it can get a little wild sometimes , but not as crazy as like St Patrick's Day gets or something like that . So when I think of Easter , I always think of the next day , which is that Monday .

It's like the party doesn't stop and just having a good time connecting with different people , different cultures , and yeah , it's just a lot of fun .

But as I thought of my story , I guess I'm really all about the easter egg hunt and I thought of one year where I I got an early jump on the kids and hit the yard and scattered them all before the easter bunny made his rounds , and it wasn't until about four or five hours later that all the kids came over to do it .

And whatever was in the yard , these little slugs got in all the little plastic eggs and the kids ruined the whole thing . The kids are all like what the heck ? Yeah , so that was no go .

So a 10-hour drive on Easter Sunday all that way , not a damn thing open other than the roadside gas stations . I mean , I don't know what I I was thinking , but my new wife was fine , she was with her family . I would be back , you know , in a week .

I thought it was going to be great and , um , man , I'm never doing that drive again for work , I'm just gonna . You know , it was a weird , weird easter , because I started , I traveled , on easter sunday , we started recurrent class on monday and but that whole drive 10 hours , nothing opened except for the gas stations on the road .

So it was kind of like a like a ghost town that whole way , and but it was , that was pretty , probably the only one that was out of the tradition and it was just like I'm taking off , i'm'm driving . It's Easter Sunday , see ya .

So I wasn't vaccinated yet , um , and I just had to track me on saturday and that sunday I was like I'm not gonna go home , I don't want to get my family sick , like if I'm sick . So I actually stayed in my apartment , I grilled a steak and I watched all six rocky balboa movies that day .

So I will always remember that I'm eating my hoodie on right now , but , like I remember , I went for a power walk that morning . I ate a steak for like an early dinner and I just watched rocky balboa all day long . And that was my most unique easter .

I think I ever had spent it by myself , making steak and watching rocky balboa , which sounds like a pretty good day in a typical , typical everyday life , you know , but you're doing it on easter because , uh , because of covid .

So , all right , I got a good one here for you guys now , and I know jj is going to appreciate this and rusty kind of hit it on it earlier . What is your one favorite easter candy ?

them up . Oh man . Now they got like the big , huge , like five pound , one pound , ones man , you can slice them up . Oh man , yeah , recyc all day and tomorrow .

I love chocolate meltaways , um , for those , for those who are , who are from , uh , you know , obviously , the shenango valley area , we have daffin's chocolate , and daffin's chocolate used to have the best chocolate , uh meltaways I had ever tasted , and so that was usually always my go-to easter candy was chocolate meltaways from daffin's candy .

My grandma would always put them in the little glass bowl and when people would say kumbets , you know , I didn't think of the nuts , I thought of those little Easter eggs . I was like , oh , those are like kid kumbets . So I always thought those were like the lucky nut to eat .

So those little eggs , I don't know if they were Hershey or what , but they're a different color . They had the heart outside .

I don't care what size small Now they're even real small , they're ripping you off . But then they do have the giant ones that are like a football and those things are . You know , you could put those right up there next to the ham and slice them up and eat

Who doesn't like cadbury cream eggs with the same commercial ? Those are good . 40 years all of us have been alive , or or even not that we've seen cadbury cream eggs with that same easter bunny and that same lion dressed up like an Easter bunny on the commercial . But , uh , my go-to . Yes , exactly , but my go-to bunny .

Everyone's gonna think I'm crazy , but I love red vines . They're like the bootleg version of red licorice , red vines are everything , they're everything . Love me some red vines . I will crush those on easter all the time .

Also , on a funny side note , I'll have to send you guys this on instagram if you didn't see it , but I was going through my uh , you know , like the stories or whatever , people post the random videos and there was a like backyard bootleg wrestling thing going on , with a guy dressed up as the Easter Bunny kicking people's butt in a wrestling match in some back

room of some bar or something like that , in a wrestling ring . It's actually pretty funny . I'll have to send it to you guys on .

So what is your favorite thing you know to do in spring ? Um , when the , of course , when the weather gets nice . So , like , what's your one go-to favorite thing , whether it's something with your kids or your spouse , or just that you just love to do during this season ? Jj .

But this year I'm really excited because it's the first year I'm signing my son up for , uh , he's starting baseball and so this is like his , this is like his first time doing so . I'm excited to like go to the games and , like you know , be one of those dads that , like you know , hit the ball , keep your , keep your eye on the ball , son .

You know what I mean . So I'm really looking forward to that . We've been practicing already , um , so , yeah , those are . I'm looking forward to , you know , these new traditions . But that's typically things I like to do . I like to get rid of stuff and spring clean , have , have the windows open , get fresh air coming in and just kind of , you know , restart .

And you know we've been talking a lot about like , renewal and so like . For me that's like a spiritual practice , um , to get rid of old things and go into a new season .

we'll play the kid bops .

I'm not very good at it but I really do enjoy the heck out of it . So you know kicking it with the fam or golfing for sure .

And the other thing I like to do is buy candles that are spring scented . You know different flowers and things like that . So then when the weather is kind of crappy outside , it just feels kind of nice inside with the scent . So those are the two things getting outside , getting the floral scents inside the best .

Traveling a little bit , get down to the Scarlet and gray game for the coaching clinic and the weekend I try to get out to happy Valley whenever I can just uh , travel around and kind of have some me time at the campuses .

My living room is filled with my kids' collections of freaking tropical pets , so where I don't have to have the heat on in the house at a certain temperature , I can get the windows open and it's all good .

And the best part for me is going to work and not having to worry about getting that damn airplane de-iced when we have to leave in the mornings anymore . That's fair , that's a good one .

But since there's actually , uh , more than more than five of you and not everybody's gonna get five questions , everybody's gonna get just one . So I'm putting everybody on the spot for this version of the fast 55 . To round out the easter episode jj , let's start with you . Okay , is tom tom hanks ? Okay , is Tom Tom Hanks a top 10 actor of all time ?

Yes , okay , fair enough , I would agree with you on that . I think he's top five . Yeah , brandon , your question is what was a better invention hand sanitizer or the GPS ?

We need that stuff on deck sometimes , and so they bring too many damn germs , so I need that . We need that spray on deck all the time .

myers ?

I hope you guys and all of our listeners have a very , very great , very safe and very wonderful happy Easter . As always , if you like the show , be a friend and tell a friend If you didn't tell them anyways , because they might like it , just because you didn't . This is Fitty signing off and we will see you next week .