Depot Park egg hunt draws crowd

With a slight chill in the air and a bright sun overhead, Saturday proved to be the perfect day for an egg hunt.

Kids and families packed Depot Park Saturday morning for Kenyon Parks and Recreation’s ninth annual Easter Egg Hunt.

The annual event is a big undertaking for the department. City Council Member Kim Helgeson, who serves on the Parks and Rec Committee, estimated organizers had packed 3,400 eggs for the kids.

“We actually had a good support staff this year. We had some community members that helped out with that,” said Helgeson.

Filling the eggs was a group effort. Helgeson credited their volunteers, six local women, with making the work more manageable this year, also noting Mayor Doug Henke helped distribute eggs from city hall to volunteers’ houses.

While preparation took hours, the hunt itself was over in minutes. Kids were separated into two age groups, with the one to five year olds circling up in one spot and kids six and up gathering a short distance away. Over the years, Helgeson said, they’ve learned to give the little ones a chance before the big kids claim all the candy. Still, it’s in families’ best interest to arrive early, as the eggs never last long once the hunt begins.

The scene in Depot Park was hectic as kids scrambled and crawled in the grass, snatching up as many pastel-hued eggs as they could carry in their bags, baskets or hands. Adults followed patiently along, helping some of the smaller kids with their haul of eggs.

Once the ground was picked clean, it was time for kids to take stock of their spoils. Families sat in little huddles around the park, popping open eggs one by one to get at the candy inside. A few of them got a pleasant surprise — in a Wonka-inspired twist, four of the eggs contained a golden ticket that the lucky recipients could turn in for a prize basket.

After the hunt, kids lined up for a photo op with the Easter Bunny.

Seeing smiling faces everywhere in the park, Helgeson was pleased with this year’s event.

“We just appreciate everyone coming and we appreciate our helpers for helping stuff eggs,” she said.

As quickly as the crowd had gathered, they dispersed — though some families lingered to enjoy the park and the sunshine.

Although Park and Rec has organized the event for nine years, the tradition dates back further and was previously run by the Kenyon Area Jaycees.

Wanamingo had its own Easter egg hunt the same morning, hosted in Riverside Park.

All Seasons Food Shelf

In addition to being fun for those who attended, the egg hunt supported a good cause. Throughout the event, Park and Rec accepted donations on behalf of All Seasons Food Shelf.

CEO Mary Frutiger said the donations are very welcome, as the food shelf has seen a slight uptick in need recently. Situated in an underserved area, All Seasons serves Kenyon, Wanamingo, Dennison, West Concord and Nerstrand.

They help approximately 50 families a month, many of them struggling with rising grocery bills.

“It’s not a supply and demand issue like during COVID. It’s an economic problem with rising costs,” said Frutiger.

In some positive news, Frutiger noted a recent food drive from Wangen Prairie Lutheran Church was extremely successful, collecting over 1,000 pounds of food, which the congregation plans to match.

Frutiger said anyone interested in helping out can volunteer for a three-hour shift at the food shelf or the All Seasons Thrift Store. Lightly used clothes and home goods donations are also beneficial, as sales from the thrift store help keep the food shelf stocked.