By CAITLIN HOFEN, Student Reporter
The Alva Fire Department is hosting an Easter egg hunt Saturday.
The event was canceled last year because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Fire Chief Bryan Miller said he will personally place 10,000 eggs on the Woods County Courthouse lawn the evening before.
“We typically ask a local organization to help set out the eggs,” Miller said. “With COVID this year, I will be the only one setting the eggs out. I will be wearing the proper gloves and sanitizing every egg as it’s placed.”
In the past, large prizes such as bikes and Easter baskets were given away.
This year, all of the prizes will be found inside the eggs themselves, Miller said. Prizes include candy, $1 gold coins, ounces of silver and gift certificates to local businesses.
“This year, we didn’t ask local businesses to sponsor this event because COVID has hit so many very hard,” Miller said. “However, many businesses still donated in some capacity, and we just want to thank them.”
In 2020, the Alva Fire Department went house-to-house and put eggs in individual yards, bringing the egg hunt directly to Alva children, Miller said. He said he is excited to have the event in a normal way this year.
“Woods County is doing pretty good with its COVID cases, but we still want to exercise caution,” Miller said. “Masks are not required since it’s an outside event, but they are recommended.”
Miller said a fire truck siren will sound to signal the start of the hunt. Then, it’s every man for himself.
“I’ve went to the Easter egg hunt for a long time, and my favorite part is getting to hunt the eggs with my friends,” said Dominique Garcia, a 5th grader at Lincoln Elementary School. “The eggs are so colorful, and the prizes are nice, too.”
The age groups for the hunt are as follows: ages 0-2 years old, ages 3-4 years old, and ages 5-6 years old. The groups will then be split up by grade: 1st, 2nd and 3rd grades in one group and 4th, 5th and 6th grades in another.
“I’m sad that this will be my last year to be a part of the Easter egg hunt, but I’m happy we get to have it downtown this year,” said Kayla Maier, a 6th grader at Alva Middle School. “Easter is better than the other holidays.”
Miller said he has gotten primarily positive feedback since the Alva Fire Department announced the event. Miller also said the Alva Chamber of Commerce will host the annual Egg Drop. This is when individuals try to catch an egg from a fire truck ladder without the egg breaking.
“We hope that this event brings a sense of normalcy back to people’s lives after last year,” Miller said.