Throngs of children take over White House South Lawn for annual Egg Roll

<br>WASHINGTON (AP) _ President Bush presided over his first White House Egg Roll on Monday, welcoming hundreds of children and their families to the South Lawn for Easter festivities. <br><br>Excited

Monday, April 1st 2002, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

WASHINGTON (AP) _ President Bush presided over his first White House Egg Roll on Monday, welcoming hundreds of children and their families to the South Lawn for Easter festivities.

Excited parents ushered wide-eyed children in pastel dresses and Easter suits from activity to activity, pointing and snapping pictures _ some in front of an enormous jelly bean mosaic of the president's face.

Others struggled to hold little hands, warning stragglers to keep up and chasing after children who wiggled away.

``Laura and I are so glad that you came this year, especially given what happened last year,'' the president told the crowd, recalling rain showers that canceled last April's outdoor celebration.

``This is your home and you are welcome to the yard of your home,'' Bush said.

This year's Egg Roll, in which young children race to the finish line while pushing eggs with a spoon, enjoyed sunny skies and cool breezes. There were 10,800 eggs to decorate or roll, and children were greeted by celebrities including Stuart Little and the Easter Bunny.

Four-year-old Savannah Byrd of Manassas, Va., said the best thing about being at the White House was having her picture taken with the Easter bunny because ``she has a dress _ it's purple.''

But James Stephenson, 6, was more interested _ mesmerized, in fact _ by a real Himalayan dwarf rabbit named Bugs. A dozen tiny hands poked, prodded and almost completely covered Bugs, who will weigh all of 3 pounds when fully grown.

``He's like my bunny that's a stuffed animal,'' said James, who wore white bunny ears and a blue shirt embossed with his name and a picture of a rabbit.

James, who proudly voted for Bush in his school's mock election, also carried a card he made for the president and a bouquet of flowers for Mrs. Bush. ``Thank you for letting us play at your house,'' the card said.

For the second year in a row, Mary Beth Stephenson, James' mother, camped out _ starting at 2 p.m. Friday _ to get tickets for the egg roll. She spent the night playing cards and talking _ but not sleeping.

``Some of the same people came back this year,'' said Stephenson, of Springfield, Va. ``It was a blast.''

On Friday, White House assistant chef John Moeller and five others prepared for the festivities in a kitchen stacked with crates and boxes of eggs _ 30 cases of 30 dozen each, to be exact. They dyed 7,800 eggs for the egg roll, and 3,000 white eggs were set aside for children to decorate.

Meanwhile, White House pastry chef Roland Mesnier worked to finish a 25-pound, chocolate sculpture of President Bush's Scottish terrier, Barney, and a 45-pound, 4 1/2-foot-tall, chocolate Easter egg.

He sculpted the pooch holding a paintbrush and wearing a cowboy hat and glasses.

``He's in the mood for painting,'' Mesnier said of the chocolate Barney, which stood beside the egg. Together, they took 20 hours to create.

``Barney was kind of a challenge because of his features, all the hair and everything,'' Mesnier said.

The first Washington egg rolls took place on the Capitol grounds in the early 1870s. But after children made a mess of the lawn in 1876, lawmakers banned them. The festivities were rained out the next year, and the celebration moved to the White House in 1878.