ST. PAUL - The Town of St. Paul FCSS, along with the Family Resource Network and Native Counselling Services of Alberta is hoping to bring some joy and Easter spirit to St. Paul through a community-wide Easter egg hunt, scheduled for March 30.
The Egg-cellent Adventure event will include 1,000 Easter eggs hidden in 14 different parks and playgrounds throughout town.
“I’ve wanted to do this for a really long time actually," says Director of the Town of St. Paul FCSS department, Lynn Smid. With public health measures still in place due to the pandemic, Smid figured this would be the perfect year to try out the event. The egg hunt is conducive to social distancing since families can keep away from others, and the event will take place outdoors.
The egg-cellent adventure egg hunt will also see eggs hidden throughout the community, which Smid says should keep people spread out, and not all in one area of town. She's hopeful that people visit their own community parks on the day of the hunt.
"It's just something fun. Something a little bit different," says Smid.
The Easter eggs will be plastic, so the weather shouldn't affect the event. Inside the eggs, there will be a chocolate treat. And inside six special eggs, there will be a special prize voucher that lucky hunters can pick up at the FCSS office.
With it being spring break for many children in the community, Smid says it offers families a chance to do something fun ahead of the Easter weekend. A list or map showing the 14 parks that will be part of the egg-cellent adventure will be released closer to the event date.
The hunt is scheduled to start at 11 a.m., and organizers are asking residents to be respectful as children gather eggs, making sure there are eggs for everyone who wants to take part.
“Kids are pretty motivated (to collect eggs)," says Smid, with a laugh. And with over 1,000 eggs being hidden, she is hopeful there will be enough for everyone.
And for families who may feel more comfortable driving around in their own vehicles, or riding bikes, a number of businesses and organizations will be placing coloured posters of Easter eggs in their windows. Smid was unsure of how many posters would be hidden around town, but the response from the community so far had been great.
Other similar scavenger hunts have been held for Canada Day and Halloween.
People will then be able to send in a count of how many eggs they found, and will have the chance to win prizes. An image of the final Easter egg count can be texted to 780-614-1941.
Smid says the scavenger hunts are an opportunity for the business community and other groups to get involved, at little cost. She's hoping those who put up posters will simply take time to colour their posters in a fun way.
The ideas behind the Easter egg hunt and scavenger hunt are simple, and Smid is hoping the Egg-cellent Adventure will "bring some spring cheer."
The FCSS department has been working throughout the pandemic to keep the community engaged, as per their mandate. Creating "a connection to community is really what all of our programming and mandate is," said Smid.
While she acknowledges it's been a challenge to continue to come up with unique ideas that abide by public health measures, the FCSS department and Family Resource Network will continue to make the best of the situation.
