Carvers Creek To Stage Yearly Easter Pageant by ben McDonald The months have been many since the end of the war, and most of us have slowiy assumed mental calmness while building up the stability which will enable us to make that peace endure. As we join the chuich throngs this Easter, surrounded by the family, friends and friendly neigh, bors, we can make one simple resolution in behalf of that peace. We can resolve to live in the c^int of Easter throughout the year. Talking about the Easter season, I have a story about an Easter pageant held every year at Car ver’s Creek, Bladen county that is really one for the books. First off, a word or two about! the director of this pageant. She is Mrs. Helen M. Sanderlin, Mrs. Sanderlin comes from Council. Council is next to Carver's creek. This Carver’s Creek Easter pageant started as a small com munity undertaking. Mrs. Sander lin had an idea. She decided that it would be a grand community undertaking if all the people in her area could be induced to gather on Easter Sunday and praise the Lord in their own way. She broached this idea to the resi dents and all were in agreement. At the beginning, few attended but with the passing of the years the pageant has become one of the biggest events in North Carolina. YOUR SPECIALTY for service that saves RANEY CHEVROLET CO. 406 Princess St. Phone 9621 __ . _ , ' It actually draws visitors from surrounding states. The community gathering start ed six years ago. Mrs. Sanderhn, who writes all the script as well as being the directress, sat down with herself one day and, (still thinking to herselifj said. •'It’s about time we had a real Easter pageant.” Suiting thoughts to ac tion, Mrs. Sanderlin immediately went to worn. The result: Carver's Creek Easter pageant. It’s now Southeastern North Carolina's most famous Easter religious ceremony. The church where the ceremony is held is the former site of the Quaker meeting ground. This site is also the place where Bishop Astoury first brought Methodism to Bladen county. To this day a number of graves of the original Quaker settlers may be found. One of the highlights of the pag eant is the big dinner that is serv ed after the ceremonies are over. A pit barbecue is held, and the general public is invited. For many weeks the people of the Carver’s Creek area and the Council section practice for the festival. Perhaps one of the most interesting notes about the pageant is the fact that farmers irom in and around the area make it a duty to attend rehearsals, despite the fact that it is planting season. When the day’s work is done, the farmers, their wives and families come to researsal by wagon, mule cart and automobile. Norman McCullock, business manager of the Bladen Journal writing about the festival held last year said, “Bladen county is indeed proud of this festival. It depicts the story of Easter as it has never been produced before by any group, amateur or profes sional.” The ceremony is not big-time acting. On the contrary, it‘s just the simple expression of a group of country people who feel that in this way they are paying hom age to the “Great Farmer” who has shown them the way to a great er success. As one observer has said, “the simplicity of the people who take part is as sincere as the pageant itself. It's an expression direct from the hearts of the farmer-folk who year in and year out have played their parts with deep sin cerity in the hope that they would in their small way bring to all who come a deeper feeling of the real meaning of Easter. And so for the sixth consecutive year, the Carver’s Creek church, located in lower Bladen county on the Elizabethtown - Wilmington highway, will bring to many thousands of spectators an East dramatization that is taking its place in the folklore of America, a festival to which the public is cordially invited. DAVIDSON WINS DAVIDSON. April 2—