MARYSVILLE — More than 2,000 Easter egg hunters and their families flocked to Jennings Park April 11, to fill their Easter baskets with an estimated 12,000 plastic eggs. (Photo Gallery)
City of Marysville Recreation Coordinator Andrea Kingsford explained that the day’s Easter egg hunting was divided into three age-specific areas, for ages 0-2, 3-5 and 6-8, and elaborated that the park also hosted games and activities, such as a beanbag toss and a coloring area, as well as appearances from the Easter Bunny and “Mr. Happy Carrot.”
The event also generated approximately 700-800 pounds of food, and roughly $300 in donations, for the Marysville Community Food Bank, according to Kingsford.
“Last year, I would say we did about the same,” Kingsford said April 11, when asked about the possible impact of the current economy on donations. “We may have had a slightly higher attendance today, and we may have actually raised higher donations today. It was a very good turnout this year, with a lot of donations that were really appreciated.”
Austen Taylor and Spencer Bartholomew were both first-time attendees of the Jennings Park Easter egg hunt this year, and while both boys are getting a little old for Easter egg hunting, they still enjoyed the day’s events.
“It’s pretty fun,” Taylor said. “They’ve got music, funny characters like the carrot, and they’ve got Easter egg hunts for the littler kids and the bigger kids. You have to come.”
“It’s probably worth going to,” Bartholomew said. “I actually never knew that they had it here. We got a flier at school. They’ve got some pretty good games and a lot of candy.”
Azura Nelson was also celebrating her first Jennings Park Easter egg hunt, but she demonstrated a canny skill at hunting for the best eggs.
“I mostly look for heavy eggs because they usually have cool prizes or yummy hard candy,” said Nelson, who suspected she might share her candy with her friends. “I got a lot of caramel candy. Lots of kids should come here because it’s really fun and a great experience for little kids.”
Estela Olsen brought her boys, Kenneth and Scotty, for their second year of Easter egg hunting at Jennings Park.
“It’s really exciting to see my two kids going around and looking for eggs,” Olsen said. “I like seeing them happy, running around and having a good time. I love that they do these kinds of activities all the time.”
Fellow mom Angela Powell has been attending the annual Easter egg hunts for a few years more than Olsen.
“My 19-year-old son was probably in a stroller, or maybe his little sister was, so it’s been quite a long time,” said Powell, who appreciates the event’s activities for a variety of ages, as well as its dependable availability each year. She also praised the event’s benefits for the Food Bank, “where the community feels like they’re contributing to it and it’s not something where they just come and get stuff.”
Powell enjoys having the Easter egg hunt in “the most beautiful park in Marysville,” and hopes that it will continue well into the future, “because for a lot of people, it means a lot to them. It’s a family outlet and a parenting place where you can come, have Easter, let your kids run wild and feel like they’re part of the community.”
Kingsford thanked State Farm Insurance of Marysville, Grandview Village and the Explosion Basketball team for sponsoring the event.
