Lithuanian Educational Council of the US teachers take Folk Art Classes at Camp Dainava
Donatas Astras conducted Egg Decorating workshops for the Lithuanian Educational Council of the US at Camp Dainava in August 2019. During Sendraugiu Week at Camp Dainava, which included families, seniors and teachers, Don taught the seniors and teachers, how to etch Easter eggs.
The teachers, who were mostly mothers with their own children at camp, were happy and enthusiastic. Don was lucky to have teachers from Detroit, who had participated at an earlier session in April at Divine Providence Lithuanian Catholic Parish. They were model students.
The night before the class, three women were crying while peeling onions. They peeled eighteen bags to have enough skins to dye 12 dozen eggs. Because the dye was needed in the morning, they boiled the skins and let them soak overnight. The next morning, they brought eggs to warm up to room temperature before putting them in the dye bath to hard-boil. Indre and Audrone strained skins for the dye bath. While the eggs boiled before breakfast, Don checked on them in the pot. Only three eggs cracked. Aukse and Audrone also helped unload them, clean up and set up the tables for the next class.
When Don began teaching, he was surprised how many teachers wanted to use the kid’s battery-operated tools, AA battery grinders (Amazon.com: DYNAMIC 7-Inch Battery Operated Engraver Pen :TJ9907), which proved extremely popular. One man etched six interesting eggs in half the class time using the engraver vs others using Xacto knives! Teachers learned how to etch Easter eggs using the centuries old egg dyeing and etching techniques and would carry forward the tradition to their students in their Lithuanian schools.
Don also introduced the seniors and teachers to creating straw Christmas ornaments in other sessions.
See the dyed and etched Easter eggs (marguciai) that his students, teachers themselves, produced. The dark green eggs were placed in double-strength food coloring after the onion skin dye bath.
Read more about how the teachers appreciated learning how to etch Easter eggs and create straw ornaments at Lithuanian Educational Council of the US.