Bay Area Easter, Rain or Shine

Many Bay Area families and members of the local religious  community are planning for egg hunts, festive gatherings and other activities  for the springtime Easter celebration and holiday this Sunday.

An Easter tradition will continue this year with a sunrise service  at San Francisco's Mount Davidson, located near Myra Drive and Dalewood Way.

The 91st Annual service will be led by local clergy at 7 a.m. and  include music from gospel, bagpipes and brass ensemble groups and other  performances, organizer Glenn Gullmes said.

San Francisco Fire Chief Joanne Hayes-White will attend the  morning event at the highest city peak.
Previous years have attracted as many as 500 attendees, however  this year's anticipated rainy weather may detract early morning visitors to  the massive cross that is situated at the summit that peeks through the  trees.

No matter the weather, Gullmes said, "You can't beat the view."

For late-risers, the 22nd annual Union Street Spring Celebration  and Easter Parade will kick off Sunday at 10 a.m.
The parade will head from Union and Gough streets at 2 p.m. with  about 50 contingents expected to proceed through the neighborhood.

At two farmers' markets in Moraga and San Francisco, a children's  egg hunt will offer prizes of fresh produce and other treats from the  farmers' stalls.

The Moraga market is located at the corner of Moraga Road and  Moraga Way.

The San Francisco location is at the Fort Mason Center on Marina  Boulevard.

In a less religious tradition, the San Francisco-based Sisters of  Perpetual Indulgence, the self-described order of queer nuns part of the  longstanding community service group, will hold their 34th annual Easter  celebration at Dolores Park, which includes the Hunky Jesus contest.

An egg hunt will begin at 11 a.m. at the park located at Dolores  and 18th streets followed by the tongue-in-cheek contest to select the most  attractive Jesus look-alike.

In preparation of the Easter festivities, the sisters will hold a  clean-up event, or a "trash exorcism," at the park Saturday between noon and  3 p.m.
Officials from the city's Recreation and Parks Department will  participate in the parking cleaning.

The annual "Bring Your Own Big Wheel" races will fly down San  Francisco's most crooked street on Potrero Hill's Vermont Street on Easter  Sunday at 4 p.m.
Coinciding with the holiday, but in no way Easter-related, the  event, in its 13th year, is expected to draw hundreds of participants with  homemade carts that will attempt to negotiate the quick turns starting at the  top of Vermont and 20th streets.

Sunday also marks the end of Lent, the roughly six-week period  leading up to Easter, in which many observers abstain from so-called  luxuries, such as consuming chocolate, alcohol or other indulgences.
Easter this year also coincides with the Jewish holiday of  Passover, an eight-day observance that ends Tuesday.
Easter Sunday may be damp this year, according to National Weather  Service forecaster Charles Bell.

A storm will arrive in the Bay Area Saturday evening and it will  continue to rain throughout most of Sunday, Bell said.

Throughout the region there is a chance of lightning and thunder,  he said.

He said while hunting for eggs, "it's not going to be as warm as  previous weeks," with high temperatures only into the 60s.

After Sunday's showers, dry weather will return through the end of  next week, he said.

The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals reminds  parents and others celebrating Easter to not buy live animals as holiday  presents.

During the Easter holiday, baby animals, especially bunnies and  chicks, are often purchased and later abandoned or neglected.

Others bring Easter animals to woods and ponds where the animals  are unable to survive.
SPCA officials urge parents to consider the responsibility of  purchasing an animal, and remind residents that baby animals grow up.

For those interested in adopting a rabbit, Scotts Valley-based  Rabbit Haven, a nonprofit rabbit rescue organization, will be holding  adoption events in the coming weeks, director Heather Bechtel said.

On April 6 at For Other Living Things at 1261 S. Mary Ave. in  Sunnyvale there will be an adoption show, followed by adoptions at Pet Pals  at 3660 Soquel Drive in Santa Cruz County on April 13.

Around Easter the organization is busy with rabbits coming in. "Rabbits are certainly not disposable pets," Bechtel said.