WEST PLAINS – Hundreds of area residents hopped out in the colder temps over Easter weekend to take part in many of the community egg hunts on the West Plains.
Airway Heights, Medical Lake, and Cheney all boasted big turnouts in their communities, and kids went home with smiles, candy and even some gift baskets.
Deputy Director of the Airway Heights Parks and Recreation Andy Gardner explained this was the first official egg hunt the department was able to organize since 2019 due to the COVID pandemic.
“As soon as COVID started we were literally weeks away from our egg hunt, so in 2020 we got shut down pretty quickly,” Gardner said. “We discussed it in 2021, but decided it would not be responsible to try and hold one last year.
“This year we have been talking about having it since November or December of last year. So as we started feeling more confident we reignited our Airway Heights Kiwanis Club and re-established the process through them because we partner with them a lot.”
Gardner said the department put out over 12,000 eggs and 60 gift baskets for the event and added the Easter Bunny was on site to take photos with the kids.
Gardner said community partnerships are what really drive these types of events.
“We don’t do it alone,” he said. “It’s partnerships, it’s other people, it’s people that work alongside us to help us plan, prepare, and setup for the events—we don’t do it alone.”
Medical Lake Kiwanis held the community hunt at Waterfront Park. Organizers hid 5,000 eggs, with several “gold foil eggs” that could be traded in for a gift basket at the prize table.
“Every time we get the opportunity to bring people together under the idea of something great it’s always fun for us and always worth the effort,” Gardner said.
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