It was an egg-citing morning as people collected plastic eggs and turned them in for chocolate prizes at the annual Downtown Orillia Easter Egg Hunt.
“We’re here with family who came up all the way from Hamilton for this hunt and we’re all having a blast,” said Adam Johnson.
The event, put on by the Downtown Orillia Management Board, the Orillia District Chamber of Commerce and the Orillia Farmers’ Market, was a hit with kids and their families.
The egg hunt was no small affair. Stretching from the Orillia Public Library to Front Street, there were plenty of plastic eggs to be found, and many other activities to take part in.
On top of the hunt, people could visit a small petting zoo, get their faces painted, meet with the OPP officers and get a tour of a cruiser, and get their photos taken with the Easter Bunny.
The turnout was impressive, but it also presented some challenges for organizers.
“We have seen close to 1,000 families come out, which is amazing to see, but we are having a hard time keeping up with everyone as that’s nearly triple what we were expecting for attendance,” said Megan Murray, one of the volunteers.
Almost half an hour after the event started, most of the coloured egg baskets downtown were empty, leaving kids unable to find all six colours of eggs needed to get prizes.
Volunteers were running around, trying to refill baskets, but as soon as they could be refilled, they were emptied again. That left volunteers having to come up with plans for how to get kids their eggs for prizes before they ran out.
Parents, however, came up with a way to try to make sure their kids got the eggs — by taking their kids’ photos next to each collection basket and showing the photos at the end. It is not clear whether that digital approach was accepted.
