OK, so what can be said about an Easter egg hunt that hasn’t already been said?
For such an event held Saturday morning after a year of almost no such gatherings because of COVID-19 crowd restrictions, Lindsey Rivera of Mount Airy had just the right word:
“It’s special — it’s special,” Rivera said while accompanying her two children to a social distance-style Easter egg hunt organized by Mount Airy Parks and Recreation personnel.
Given that the pandemic threat still looms over daily life, Saturday morning’s event was staged at strategic points along the Granite City Greenway limited to groups of 50 people at each location. This was a departure from past custom that featured hundreds of folks gathering for one large Easter “eggstravaganza” at the city’s Westwood Park.
However, those attending Saturday’s hunt didn’t seem to mind the change of venue or precautions posed by COVID including face masks required for everyone over 5 years old. Parents just seemed happy for their children to be able to experience such an event at all, after Mount Airy’s seventh-annual hunt was canceled in 2020.
“It’s exciting for kids, because they have had a lot of their childhood taken away from them,” Kayla Atkins, a Pilot Mountain mom, said of COVID-19’s smothering effects on school attendance, social interaction and other key activities.
She offered that comment just before one of the segmented Easter egg hunts began on the greenway behind the Lowes Foods shopping center. City Parks and Recreation Director Darren Lewis said it reflected the consensus of many participants Saturday who appreciated the chance to savor a simple holiday tradition.
Rivera, the Mount Airy mom, is glad that the trend toward warmer weather is allowing such outdoor activities at a time when many held indoors have been curtailed, although temperatures Saturday morning hovered around the 40-degree mark, punctuated by wind.
Despite that, about 350 people attended, according to Lewis, who said they were spread among seven different starting points along the 6.6-mile greenway to ensure safety.
This was in stark contrast to the 400 to 500 normally assembling in a giant cluster for past egg hunts at Westwood Park. Those were divided into stages for different age groups, which also was indicative of a change Saturday.
“We’re doing it by families,” Assistant Parks and Recreation Director Cathy Cloukey said of a format that seemed to match the communal spirit of the event.
It proved scientifically that the dynamics of a typical Easter egg hunt were unaffected by some old virus.
Kids scurried onto the greenway at the command to start and, as usual, enthusiastically sought out thousands of small plastic eggs containing goodies which were placed along the trail.
A small number of golden eggs stashed there were good for special prizes.
Lewis said the greenway layout allowed the hunt to be conducted and the opportunity for people to enjoy the company of others while still social distancing.
“It went really well.”
Source: https://www.mtairynews.com
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