The egg-spectation of families being able to find chocolate bunnies and Easter eggs has returned to the Upper Columbia Valley this weekend.
Invermere
Children under the age of 12 will have an opportunity to participate in the Easter Egg Hunt at Kinsmen Beach at 10 a.m. on Saturday, March 26th. However, the area where candy will be hidden is going to be divided up based on several participating age groups that will begin their quest for candy at the same time.
“It’s the first year we’re doing this event,” said Theresa Wood, District of Invermere event organizer. “Invermere has a great population and we should have an Easter Egg Hunt. It’s a popular event.”
The Invermere Easter Egg Hunt will be a free spring-time event for families to attend. There will be hidden candy and plastic eggs nearby, and the plastic eggs can be exchanged for gift baskets.
“The older kids will search for candy and the younger kids will be asked to find plastic eggs that their parents can exchange for the appropriate amount of candy,” said Theresa.
She wants the Invermere Easter Egg Hunt to provide a safe and fun atmosphere in which families can celebrate this weekend.
“It’s a great festive spring event for the valley and it gives something for people with kids to do on a Saturday morning,” said Theresa.
There is one small favour she’s hoping families could lend a helping hand with for this year’s event.
“The Easter Bunny does need help dispersing eggs, so if anybody has some time before the hunt at 8 a.m. to help him out, that would be great,” she said. “And they’ll be done in time to do the hunt with their families.”
To volunteer to help the Easter Bunny, contact Theresa at 250-688-9663.
Canal Flats
The 14th annual Canal Flats Easter Egg hunt will take place on Sunday, March 27th for children under the age of 12 at the Kootenay River RV and Gas Plus station on Highway 93/95 at 1 p.m. There will be free hotdogs and cake for everybody served up around noon — children under the age of six are required to have supervision.
“I started the event 14 years ago,” said Karen Flowers, event organizer. “When I was in Cubs and Scouts years ago. We started one then when I realized we had nothing in the area for kids. It kind of fell by the wayside so we started it up again, and it’s become very popular.”
She is encouraging participating families to bring a basket for children to hold onto their loot during this year’s hunt.
However, the 14th annual Canal Flats Easter Egg hunt has a unique feature to ensure children are getting safe candy.
“We’re going to meet at the Kootenay River RV and Gas Plus on the highway and then we start them off near the campground in there,” she said, noting the children would be searching for bottle caps and tokens to exchange at the main booth for either candies or Easter bunnies.
“They have to hunt for bottle caps and we trade them in for candy. It’s fun and the kids love it.”
For more information, call Karen at 250-349-5447.
Windermere
A third serving of Easter treats will be made available to families in the Columbia Valley this weekend.
The 10th Annual Windermere Easter Egg Hunt for children of all ages hosted by the Windermere Community Association will begin at 10 a.m. in the field behind the Windermere Community Hall on Sunday, March 27th.
“We section the field off into four different sections for the little guys and we have all sorts of candies that we throw,” said event organizer Pat van Regen. “Every year, we also do a prize for every kid.”
She is encouraging families to bring a basket or a bag for participating children to collect candy this year.
“We do this (event) every year because we like to bring the kids in the community together,” said Pat.
There will be no fee to participate in Windermere’s Easter Egg Hunt this year.