{"id":20180,"date":"2018-03-21T16:00:25","date_gmt":"2018-03-21T20:00:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/?p=20180"},"modified":"2018-03-21T16:00:25","modified_gmt":"2018-03-21T20:00:25","slug":"inside-aurora-hopping-to-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/inside-aurora-hopping-to-it\/","title":{"rendered":"INSIDE AURORA: Hopping to It"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Scott Johnston<\/strong><\/p>\n

It was a fine day in late March and I was strolling along one of the trails near the Seniors\u2019 Centre.
\nI expected to run into the Easter Bunny, who I usually seemed to encounter this time of year. Often, he was in some state of stress or distress about preparations for his pending activities here in Town.
\nSure enough, before long I spotted a small furry figure approaching, carrying a large wicker basket. But to my surprise, I quickly recognized it as Aurora Annie, our Town\u2019s weather forecasting groundhog.
\n\u201cAnnie, what are you doing here?\u201d I asked, as she got closer.
\nI sat down on a nearby bench.
\n\u201cWhat does it look like I\u2019m doing?\u201d she responded with a smile.
\nHopping up beside me, she said, \u201cI\u2019m getting ready for the Town\u2019s big Easter celebration on Saturday at the Seniors\u2019 Centre.\u201d
\n\u201cBut that\u2019s the Easter Bunny\u2019s job.\u201d
\n\u201cHe can\u2019t make it this year. He\u2019s … indisposed.\u201d
\n\u201cBut Brock just interviewed him for The Auroran last week. He sounded fine.\u201d
\n\u201cWell, you know how things go sometimes.\u201d After a glance around to ensure no one else could hear our conversation, she whispered, \u201cHe was a bit nervous getting ready. He\u2019s never had to set up an inflatable before, and I think he accidentally punched a hole in it.\u201d
\n\u201cIt\u2019s fixed now,\u201d she added quickly, \u201cbut I think he may have compensated for the extra pressure by eating too much chocolate. Having so much of it available this time of year is kind of an occupational hazard.\u201d
\n\u201cSo I\u2019m filling in,\u201d she concluded.
\n\u201cLike the alternate some towns other than Aurora have at Regional Council, if their representative can\u2019t make it?\u201d
\n\u201cExactly,\u201d she agreed. \u201cWe seasonal characters take turns backing each other up. If one of us can\u2019t make it, someone else is ready to step in.\u201d
\n\u201cHas this happened before?\u201d
\n\u201cSure.\u201d Looking a little sheepish, she continued, \u201cI remember one February I actually slept in, hibernation-wise, and wasn\u2019t available for my annual prediction. Santa Claus had to step in at the last minute to cover for me.\u201d
\n\u201cSanta!\u201d
\n\u201cYeah.He may be a wonderful altruist,\u201d she confided, \u201cgiving out all those toys and spreading good cheer, but he\u2019s a lousy weather prognosticator. After his prediction of an early spring, it snowed well into April that year. It was kind of embarrassing. But I appreciated the help,\u201d she added, quickly.
\n\u201cSo, you\u2019ll be doing the Easter events at the Seniors\u2019 Centre this year?\u201d
\n\u201cYes. It should go fairly well. After all, the local Girl Guides and Town staff do most of the work. The Bunny\u2019s more of a figurehead.\u201d
\n\u201cBesides,\u201d she added, \u201cthe Optimists will be serving pancakes there. That\u2019s an added incentive to attend. My usual job February 2nd never involves breakfast.\u201d
\n\u201cBut won\u2019t the children realize you\u2019re not a rabbit?\u201d
\n\u201cI\u2019ll wear fake ears, some whiskers, and a cotton tail. The kids will be so hyped up on chocolate and activities they\u2019ll never notice.\u201d
\n\u201cSpeaking of which,\u201d she concluded, \u201cI\u2019d better get going, so I can get outfitted.\u201d
\n\u201cHave fun,\u201d I said, as she headed off towards the Seniors\u2019 Centre, making the odd practice hop along the way.
\nIt wouldn\u2019t quite be a traditional Easter, but it was nice to know that someone was willing to help out on short notice to ensure the kids of Aurora weren\u2019t disappointed.<\/p>\n

Feel free to e-mail Scott at: machellscorners@gmail.com<\/p>\n\"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>\"mail\"<\/a>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Scott Johnston It was a fine day in late March and I was strolling along one of the trails near the Seniors\u2019 Centre. I expected to run into the Easter Bunny, who I usually seemed to encounter this time of year. Often, he was in some state of stress or distress about preparations for […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[29,28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20180","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-columns","category-opinion"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3D2k4-5fu","publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-05-20 12:55:25","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20180","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20180"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20180\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20180"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20180"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newspapers-online.com\/auroran\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20180"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}