Hundreds children searched high and low for Easter eggs at Sunnybrook Farm Museum this weekend.
The Red Deer museum, located at 2879 Botterill Cres., hosted its second Easter egg hunt on Saturday. The event began at 1 p.m. and sold out in just 20 minutes, said Ian Warwick, the site’s executive director.
“Last year’s event had about 200 kids and we sold out in 15 minutes. We had to turn away 50-100 kids and we felt bad about that, so we bought twice as much candy this year – 42 kilograms.”
Volunteers were stuffing bags with candy for the past two weeks leading up to the hunt.
“They had 400 bags ready,” he said.
“There were 400 kids and 200 or so adults this year. I’d say there were 600 to 700 people who came (out) … A lot of these kids are coming to the farm for the first time. It’s even some adults’ first time here too. We’re a piece of Red Deer’s cultural history and all you have to do is walk through the gates and explore.”
Museum leaders decided to host its first Easter egg last year because they wanted to create more opportunities for Red Deerians to visit the site during the winter and early spring.
“In the wintertime, the site is generally closed – the buildings aren’t heated, so we have limited activity. With the site itself, we’re trying to think of different ideas to keep it active and used,” said Warwick.
The Easter egg hunt and Family Day events helped bring people to the farm when there was still snow on the ground, said Warwick.
“This year’s Family Day event was huge – 600 people showed up, which was great,” he said.
“The events committee has been really active the past couple of years because we’re trying to recover from COVID. There aren’t a lot of family events that are free or entry by donation. These events are something that’s affordable and people can donate whatever can.”
Warwick said Sunnybrook is currently getting ready for school programs in May and June and day camps in July and August.
Some other sites in the region hosted Easter egg hunts on Saturday as well, including the Alberta Sports Hall of Fame, the Gasoline Alley Farmers Market and Red Deer’s Capstone neighbourhood.
For more information on Sunnybrook Museum Farm, visit www.sunnybrookfarmmuseum.ca.
sean.mcintosh@reddeeradvocate.com
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