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White House stages annual Easter egg roll

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WASHINGTON, March 22 (UPI) -- Children and cartoon characters take over the South Lawn of the White House next week for the annual Easter Egg Roll and party, it was announced Tuesday.

The roll has been a feature at the White House since 1878, and this year it would be held on Monday, with other special events taking place on the adjacent Ellipse.

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The White House said there would be live music, special book reading corners, stage shows and characters from children's educational programming, including "Clifford the Big Red Dog," Leona from "Between the Lions" and "The Berenstain Bears."

Easter Egg rolling, a popular holiday game in 19th Century Washington, used to take place informally at the U.S. Capitol until lawmakers banned it in 1878 because of lawn damage.

As the story goes, President Rutherford B. Hayes, hearing of the children's plight, took pity and invited them to use the White House for their games.

The White House said the National Park Service would distribute tickets for the event on a first-come, first-served basis at the Ellipse Visitor's Pavilion Saturday. There will be a ticket maximum of five per person.

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