Chase Layman, great-grandmother and matriarch, is the driving force behind her expansive family's Easter tradition.

There's Sunday dinner, followed by a potentially profitable hunt for Easter eggs containing cash and coins, and then the always perilous backyard egg toss.

But the family's real sticklers for tradition run a little younger.

"The grandchildren don't want to change anything," said Layman, who lives in western Henrico County. "Down to the fact I made potato salad instead of mashed potatoes last year. They just about had a fit."

For 50 years, Layman's family has adhered to this big Easter celebration. About 50 family members and friends, spanning four generations, are expected Sunday at the home of Layman's son, Jay Hanky, and his wife, Suzanne, and their five children. The Hankys have a big enough kitchen to accommodate the hubbub.

It all started with Layman's mother and father, Mary and Eddie Eck. As the oldest of five, Layman inherited the running of the family gathering when her mother died in 1995. "She was very much for holding the family together," Layman said. "She knew as the oldest I'd do the best I could."

The mother of seven, grandmother of 23 and great-grandmother of one (with another on the way), Layman, 68, still does much of the cooking and organizing. She also officiates the egg toss, in which family members pair up and then stand a few feet apart, tossing raw eggs to each other. The last pair standing without egg on their hands (or faces) are the champions. The winners' names go on a plaque Layman displays year-round. A bucket of water is available for all.

"Hysterical" is the way Layman describes the egg toss.

Of course, the real reason behind the reunion is not about splattered eggs.

"We're a Catholic family, and this is always our way of marking the gift the Lord has given to us," Layman said.

Ginny Lewis, the oldest of Layman's seven children, said it's the ongoing tradition that makes it a big deal for family.

"And the fact that everybody participates," she said.

Everyone brings a side dish and dessert to go along with the traditional ham and turkey. Nobody dare misses it, even the grandkids away at college or living on their own in other states.

This year's gathering also will mark the first Easter since one of Layman's granddaughters, Emily Haas, was wounded in the campus shooting at Virginia Tech last April. It will be a chance to celebrate her life and mourn those who didn't survive, said an aunt, Suzanne Hanky.

It also will be a time to renew family ties.

"The best part is when we all stand in a circle, holding hands and praying before our meal," Hanky said. "That's really my favorite part. One of the most exciting things in the world to me is to look around at all of the lives that have been brought together because of this family."

Sometimes, though, even long-running traditions need tweaking.

Said Layman with a laugh, "We're having potato salad again this year."
Contact Bill Lohmann at (804) 649-6639 or wlohmann@timesdispatch.com.