Oblivious to the damp weather, thousands of area children romped yesterday with Clifford the Big Red Dog, Elmo and the Berenstain Bears at the annual White House Easter Egg Roll.

Nearly 11,200 eggs were used at the event, including some 7,200 dyed eggs and another 4,000 that the children decorated.

The event was first begun in 1878 by President Rutherford Hayes (www.whitehouse.gov/easter/history.html). The first Easter Egg Rolls were held on the Capitol grounds.

In 1994, a tradition of collecting state Easter eggs (www.whitehouse.gov/easter/2004/eggsbystate/index.html) began and continues today. Each year every state sends a unique Easter egg to the White House for display