Church continues 101-year-old Easter candy-making tradition

CONSHOHOCKEN >> As devotees of Necco’s iconic Sweethearts conversation hearts mourn the disappearance of their favorite Valentine’s Day fix from retail shelves and Krispy Kreme does what it can to fill the void with its new conversation heart doughnuts, the folks at St. Mark’s Lutheran Church in Conshohocken have their sights firmly set on Easter — the next big candy holiday.

Production on the hand-rolled eggs St. Mark’s confectioners have been producing for 100-plus years started in mid-January, and orders are already being taken for the chocolate-covered coconut, mint and peanut butter sweets that will end up in countless local — and not so local — Easter baskets.

The St. Mark’s project goes back to 1918, the same year World War I ended and the U.S. Congress established time zones and daylight-saving time. The Conshohocken church needed a new organ or heater (which, depends on who’s telling the story) so a handful of determined fundraisers gathered in one congregant’s kitchen to try their collective hand at candymaking. Through subsequent

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A volunteer makes chocolate-covered candy at St. Mark’s Lutheran Church in Conshohocken.