MANITOULIN – The Easter Bunny has a whirlwind of hunts planned for communities across Manitoulin throughout Easter weekend.
The hunts begin in Gore Bay on Good Friday, April 19 at 11 am with the annual East Bluff hunt at the property of Lilly Third. As always, children will be separated into age categories to make for fair and equal egg hunting! Don’t forget your basket.
Also on Good Friday, the Royal Canadian Legion Branch #177 in Little Current is hosting a kids’ Easter dance from 6 to 8 pm. The dance is open to children ages four to 13 and costs just $5. Juice and chips will be sold.
The following day, Saturday, April 20, the Billings Recreation Committee is pleased to offer an Easter egg hunt beginning at 10 am outside at the Kagawong Park Centre thanks in part to support from the Manitoulin Transport Group of Companies. Children are encouraged to please bring their own basket.
Over in Mindemoya that same day, the volunteer trio of Erin Lariviere, April Watson and Stephanie Gray, sponsored by Central Manitoulin, are hosting Mindemoya’s annual Easter egg hunt at the Lions Club Pavilion at Old School Park. The hunt begins at 11 am and children are also encouraged to bring their baskets to collect the many eggs that will be hidden throughout the area. The Central Manitoulin moms also encouraged parents to bring their cameras or have their phones fully charged to snap a family portrait with the Easter bunny himself.
Also on Saturday at 11 am, the Northeast Town is hosting its annual Easter egg hunt on the picturesque grounds of the Sheguiandah Centennial Museum. The grounds will be split into three areas, one for little hunters ages five and under, another for hunters ages five to eight and lastly, a special section will be reserved for children eight and over. Almost 4,000 eggs filled with goodies will be hidden, so bring your basket.
Later that day, another trio—Linda Bowerman, Yogi Martin and Rhonda Middaugh—are again helping to organize the Tehkummah Easter egg hunt at the Tehkummah ball field at 1 pm.
The hunt is open to children from 1 to 12 with a special hunting ground for the littlest hunters.
Plastic eggs with candy and with special prizes will be on offer. If you’re lucky enough to find an egg with a number inside, you will win a prize. All the hunters’ names will also be thrown into a special Easter basket with two lucky names drawn for two big prizes—one for a boy and one for a girl.
On Sunday, April 21, beginning at 1:30 pm, the granddaddy of all Island Easter egg hunts will take place at the Fields’ family field on Highway 6 in Manitowaning.
In its 33rd edition, the Fields’ property will be split into two areas, an age five and under zone and a ‘no adults allowed’ area where hunters from five to 12 will search for colourful plastic eggs, each carrying its own monetary value.
“We’ve got six garbage bags full, probably about 3,000 or so eggs,” says organizer Debbie Robinson. “It’s a green event; all the eggs get returned in exchange for a monetary prize.”
There are two special eggs hidden within each of the areas: one with $5 and another $10 in the little kid zone while the big kids will search for a $10 egg and a $20 egg.
Ms. Robinson thanked the many volunteers who help each year and the Fields family “for letting us tread all over their property.”
She urges all participants to bring their rubber boots.
Happy Easter!
