Families thronged to the Union County Farmers Market the second day of spring, on Saturday, March 21, when the annual Easter Egg Hunt by the Union County Recreation Department brightened up the surrounding field and riverbank with a sea of multicolored goodies.
The fun officially started at 10 a.m., granting kids access to a variety of activities like the bouncy house, although face painting and dancing proved especially popular. Of course, there was a line to get pictures taken with the Easter Bunny beside the scenic Butternut Creek.
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Separated into zones, three different age groups had their own section for egg hunting. Each group started at a different time to allow parents of multiple children to watch all their kids, and 10:45 a.m. marked the official start of the hunt with children aged 2 to 5 taking off to fill their baskets.
This year was the first time Evelyn Kelley attended the hunt, and she was pleased with what she found.
“It’s great, especially for our community to come together and hold a safe environment for kids and families to come and share this time together,” Kelley said. “To me, it’s very special.”
Within the eggs were a variety of prizes, including candy and small toys, but some lucky kiddos earned raffle tickets and got to go pick out something from the raffle table. One egg for each age group, however, held a golden ticket, redeemable for $50 from the Commissioner’s Office.
Six-year-old Ethan Kiefer was one of the lucky winners of a golden ticket and was quite proud of his winnings, with hopes to put it toward buying a hunting bow.
That said, Lily Robinson won big not only by earning a golden ticket for her own age bracket, but she also got a $50 Walmart gift card for her good eye. One of the kids’ activities included guessing how many jellybeans were in a large jar, and Robinson guessed 535 – the closest to the actual amount of 559.
“I had no idea,” Robinson said, giggling. “I was just thinking about getting candy (from the eggs).” She wasn’t sure yet Saturday how she would be spending her winnings but was planning on making a YouTube video of her dolls finding Easter eggs.
Organizers Sandi Godfrey and Dustin “The Rog” Rogers agreed that the event was a huge success, and both received positive feedback from parents and kids alike.
“One lady said this was a ‘top-notch event.’ She drove from Hayesville, so that was cool … They liked the new location, and (it was) just great family fun,” Godfrey shared, thankful too for the help of volunteers and Farmers Market staff like Stephanie Holgate. “It went great – great location, great turnout, a lot of smiles, a lot of dancing.”
Sole Commissioner Harold Collins, who attended to directly hand out prize money to golden egg winners, also enjoyed the event by bringing his own daughter, Nora, to hunt for eggs.
“This is an excellent place for it,” said Collins, who had experience taking his children to the previous hunting grounds at Meeks Park. “I just thank everybody for coming out and being a part of it.”
Between Rogers and Collins, the pair agreed the Farmers Market was the perfect place to host the event, so the Easter Egg Hunt will continue there for the foreseeable future. Along with that, both want to come up with more events for local families, especially geared toward kids.
“If anybody has any ideas, we’re welcome to knowing them,” Collins encouraged. Suggestions should be directed to the Farmers Market at 706-439-6043 or the Commissioner’s Office at 706-439-6000.
“Overall, it was just a good community event,” Rogers summarized. “The kids had a ball, and it was just a fun day at the Farmers Market.”
Happy Easter!
