A magic show by the Easter bunny was the highlight of an Easter event on April 20 at Carmel New Church School in Kitchener.
Ese Ljasan, who attended the special celebration at 40 Chapel Hill Dr. with her husband and children, said her kids loved it, adding she will definitely be back next year.
Tickets cost $6.50 each for the inaugural event and only 100 tickets were available for Easter egg hunt participants who had to be two to 13 years of age. The children received an Easter hunt bag and were treated to a 30-minute magic show. They were also able to have a meet and greet with the Easter Bunny, and were given a goodie bag, a fruit snack and a juice box. Other Easter snacks and drinks were available for a minimal price.
Parents and siblings in attendance were not charged for admission.
All activities were held inside the building except the Easter egg hunt which was held outside despite the wet weather. Prior to the event, organizers warned attendees to wear appropriate attire for such weather.
Although only families whose children attended the school were at the event, Laura Hill, a Grade 2 teacher at Carmel New Church School who was in charge of selling food, said anyone could attend.
To help decorate the school, Hill brought paintings of bunnies.
“The paintings were from a couple of weeks ago for my birthday party,” she said. “My niece had a couple of friends over and we did the bunnies and so she was willing to have hers here as well as mine as a decoration. The sweets were made by a bunch of the local moms and some of their daughters.”
Emmy Hasen, a P.E teacher at Carmel and the parent of some of the students, organized the first-ever event and said it may become a tradition.
“We had it open for 100 people. From what I can see it was a great event with lots of kids laughing and enjoying the magic show by the Easter bunny. We had this event for the first time and we will have it next year also.”
Hasen said she reached out to family and friends to help organize it this year but is hoping to get volunteers to help out next year. Anyone wishing to volunteer can visit this website for more information.