MORGANTOWN — A little early spring cold didn’t stop Easter egg hunters from running the grounds at the Madison Center on Baker’s Ridge Road early Saturday. The Easter Bunny was in attendance, and the kids got to meet him, as well as enjoy cupcakes, cookies and punch.
The Easter egg hunt commenced, and kids’ baskets were piled high with plastic eggs brimming with candy. Face painting was also available, as many kids donned a face painted like the Easter Bunny.
Christine Behling, the admissions and marketing director at the Madison, thought the turnout was pretty good considering the weather was a bit chilly.
“We were going to have it inside because it was rain or shine, but when we saw the weather yesterday and saw it was going to be sunshine-y, we were hoping we were going to have a good turnout,” she said.
Behling, who is fairly new to the Madison, said she had heard from the woman who trained her that other centers had had Easter egg hunts and wanted to start doing events involving the community. She said they will also do a Trick-or-Treat for the kids when Halloween rolls around.
“We did a Medicaid presentation last month and we are trying to find something different to do every month, and this month was an Easter egg hunt just because of the holiday,” she said.
The event was promoted by word of mouth, and Behling said they also handed out flyers and sent invites to residents’ families. Many businesses, such as Peace, Love and Little Donuts, and Giant Eagle donated food and money so the Madison could buy treats, snacks and eggs to stuff candy with, and the residents were happy to do that for the kids. Even a Girl Scout troop lent a hand and donated a box of Easter cookies. There was also an Easter basket raffle.
Behling wanted to have the event a little before Easter so as not to interfere with anyone’s holiday. She and others volunteered their time to make their first Easter egg hunt a success, and kids were very enthusiastic to collect all their Easter goodies.
