One of our favorite annual events is the Easter Egg Hunt at the Wynne Home Arts Center. It involves games, face-painting, and a picnic lunch of hot dogs, which are a whole lot of fun for local families.
This year, more than 200 people came out to the Wynne Home, a number that proved a bit overwhelming to us, especially when they arrived early. Planned by LEAP Ambassador and Wynne Home Intern Beatriz Martinez, we had Musical Chairs…
…Sack Races…
…an Egg-Toss game, face painting (thank-you Lauren Clay!), sidewalk chalk…
…and coloring. We had a great group of Friends of the Wynne on hand, including Patti Davis, Mary McCarley, Wes Boyd, Susan Sanders, Maureen McIntyre, and Buddy Aber. Political Science major Sadie McLaughlin was also nice enough to stop by and help, doing at least five separate tasks over the course of the event!
As much as there was to do, the kids wanted more. Accordingly, we incorporated photos with the Easter Bunny…
…and numerous activities with Sammy Bearkat…
…who occasionally stole the spotlight from the Easter Bunny, even on Easter…
As exciting as those activities were, the kids came to the Wynne Home to hunt for eggs, and they let that be known!
At noon, we kicked off the Easter Egg hunt–more than 1,000 eggs, strewn about the Wynne Home Arts Center. You may have heard stories about shoppers getting into fights on black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving. Those folks have nothing on kids at the beginning of an Easter Egg Hunt.
The hunt lasted approximately 9 minutes, with the kids finding them quickly.
Thankfully, no kids were actually trampled on by other kids in the dash for eggs, but it was a close call.
The kids and their parents then moved to the grill, where some 150 hot dogs were available. It was good to see some of the folks there from last year and from some of the other activities we do over the course of the year.
At the end of the event, 3 hot dogs and one bottle of water were left (the sodas and Capri Suns were gone).
And the kids were tired….
…as were the volunteers.
But there were a few sweet kids left, still looking for eggs, armed with the optimism of the young, and the knowledge that more eggs await tomorrow.
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