Well over 2,000 Brantford-Brant residents attended the Children’s Safety Village of Brant’s annual Easter egg hunt on Saturday, March 30, 2024.
Throughout the free event, youngsters explored the miniature sized town and participated in various Easter themed activities in exchange for a treat.
“Today, the kids have to collect two Easter eggs and complete five outdoor activities and in return they get a little bag of treats and a bag of popcorn at the end,” said Jenny Dowling, office administrator for Children Safety Village of Brant. “We also have the City and the County Fire Departments, City Police and the Six Nations Police promoting safety education, and inside, we have a little movie set up and Zehrs has also sponsored a colouring contest and so the kids also have a chance to win a little prize from them too. It’s just great because while we do accept donations, we don’t expect them; it’s just meant to be a free event that’s fun for the whole family.”
Outside, youngsters took turns going from station to station, completing various events such as bunny bowling, corn hole toss, pin the tail on the bunny, safe railway crossing and ‘find the exists,’ before heading inside to grab their goodie bag.
Many also took the opportunity to play on the village’s wooden train and the playground, while others were sure to grab a photo inside one of the many police vehicles.
Vivian Kariuki, administrative coordinator for the Children’s Safety Village of Brant, said that with such a busy event, they couldn’t have pulled it off without their team of volunteers like the the Brantford Auxiliary Police and the Citizens on Patrol.
“We have a great turnout here today, we’ve already had over 2041 people come through and we still have two hours to go,” said Kariuki. “It’s definitely not a small event and it can be overwhelming, but it’s really just a lot of fun for the kids and we’re grateful to have such a great team of sponsors like Kiwanis and GrandBridge Energy, as well as all the volunteers because they really are the backbone of these events.”
While numerous visitors were returning to the annual event, Elizabeth Balkwill and her two daughters, Jaimee and Hailey, were just a few of the many first-time visitors present at the egg hunt.
“So far, it’s been just really cute,” said Balkwill. “It’s very much geared towards the younger kids, but the older kids are all having a lot of fun running around finding eggs and doing the activities too.”
