NYM, Bluffton, Ottertail to host Easter Egg Hunts on Saturday

By Chad Koenen

Publisher

Don’t forget to bring a smile, but perhaps more importantly, a bucket with a solid bottom to Smith Park/New York Mills School, as well as the church in Bluffton on Saturday. After all, there is nothing worse than having a bag develop a hole, or have a basket give out from the weight of colorful plastic eggs filled with prizes and candy.

On Saturday morning the NY Mills Easter Egg Hunt will get underway at 10 a.m. The egg hunt is being planned for Smith Park, but egg hunt organizer Julie Roberts said in all likelihood the egg hunt will be held at NY Mills School due to the piles of snow at the park. 

Like in years past, parents are asked to register their child when they come to the park or the school so event organizers can divide up the eggs accordingly. Each child will be able to go home with a predetermined amount of eggs so everyone will have a little snack through the long Easter weekend. 

Children will be divided into age categories and special prizes will be given away at the conclusion of the egg hunt.

In addition to the egg hunt the Easter Bunny will be making an appearance to snap a few pictures and provide some extra cheer for the holiday.

In addition to the NY Mills egg hunt, Bluffton will be hosting an egg hunt of its own on Saturday morning at the church parking lot. The egg hunt is free and is open to all children ages 0-10. The event is hosted by the Bluffton community and the Bluffton Hometown Days Planning Committee. 

Ottertail egg hunt

Everyone knows the Easter Bunny is nothing more than a ham. Always looking for another great photo opportunity to steal the show and shake its little fluffy tail.

On Saturday, the Easter Bunny will get its chance to strike a pose with a wide smile and big eyes at the annual Ottertail Easter Egg Hunt. The egg hunt will get underway at 12 p.m. as hundreds of children from across the region will converge on the Ottertail Community Center for one of the largest egg hunts in the area. 

Ottertail Chamber of Commerce President Ron Grobeck said this year’s egg hunt will feature over 6,000 plastic Easter eggs, which will be filled with everything from candy to a special basket/prize. 

“We are going to do over 6,000 eggs again this year,” he said. “It should be a lot of fun.”

Typically the Ottertail Easter Egg hunt is over in a matter of minutes as children race through the community park for creatively hidden eggs, but Grobeck said the large amount of snow that still fills the park will result in a slight change to the egg hunt this year. The egg hunt will take place on the street near the community center this year to avoid the large snow drifts in the park.

Grobeck said volunteers will dump eggs on the road for each age group individually and when all of the eggs are found the next group will step up to the line. 

“It will be a condensed area so everybody should get a lot of eggs,” he said.

There will be four age groups, including 0-3, 4-6, 7-9 and 10-12. Each age group will also have several specially marked eggs that can be turned in for one of 150 age appropriate prize baskets. 

In addition to the egg hunt, the Easter Bunny will be inside the community center and will take pictures with all of the children and families that would like to strike up a pose before and after the egg hunt.

“We are looking forward to it. We always seem to expand it every year. It should be a lot of fun,” said Grobeck.