‘A great community tradition;’ Hundreds attend annual Easter sunrise service

DAYTON — Community members gathered for Carillon Park’s 84th annual Easter sunrise service Sunday morning.

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The service started at 6:30 a.m. in front of the Deeds Carillon monument.

>> PHOTOS: Community gathers for Easter sunrise service

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Music was provided by the Carillon Park’s carillonneur, Alan Bowman, and the Harbour & Levy Praise team, according to the park’s Facebook page.

News Center 7 talked to Divine Ecumenical Ministries’ Executive Director, Crystal Walker, and Vice President of Museum Operations for Dayton History, Alex Heckman, about what this service means to the city.

“They may not have a church, but listening to some of the speakers, maybe they seek out their churches to go to afterwards, so it’s really just good to have such a diverse group of people come out and be with us,” Walker said.

The pair said hundreds of people attended this year’s service. They even saw some new faces on the lawn.

“It really is inspirational in my opinion because people will turn out every year. It could be raining, or snowing, it could be freezing cold and people still turnout,” Heckman said.

This service has been a longstanding tradition for the park, as it started in 1942.

“It’s really great to be a part of history,” Walker said.

Heckman said several generations of families have attended the service.

“It’s just a great community tradition, and it’s really one of these things that when you think about Dayton, Ohio and when you think about Easter and the Easter season in Dayton, Ohio you have to think of the Deeds Carillon and the Easter sunrise service,” Heckman said.

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