Grand Island families celebrate local Easter events

Story and Photos by Alice Gerard

Senior Contributing Writer

A large rabbit and bunches of Easter eggs brought fun to Island families in a variety of locations in the past few weeks.

At the Charles DeGlopper Memorial VFW Post 9249, located at 2121 Grand Island Blvd., the Kaiser family Easter egg hunt, along with a basket raffle, attracted approximately 450 adults and children on April 12.

Autumn Kaiser-Spinella said of the event that was in its third year, “I thought it went really well. Some lessons learned: I think we are going to have three age groups.”

The original two age groups were 4 years and under and 5 years and over. Kaiser-Spinella said she would break apart the younger group into two groups: “1-2-year-olds and 3–4-year-olds so it’s a little bit better.”

Another potential change would be to acquire a public address system to make instructions and other communications more audible for the group present at the event.

The Easter bunny visited the VFW post, and children could have their picture taken with the rabbit. The bunny was very busy, appearing at Kelly’s Country Store, as well as at the Grand Island Memorial Library on April 18.

One of the bunny’s assistants, Brooke, who spoke on behalf of the rabbit, said, “He says that he’s good and he’s really excited to drop off Easter baskets all around the whole world.”

A little more than a week later, another Easter egg hunt was held, this time in the trails in Veterans Park, as well as in the Grand Island Memorial Library. According to Joe Menter, supervisor of the Grand Island Recreation Department, there were 1,096 individuals at the event.

Attendance, Menter said, “was steady all day, as opposed to the first few years that we did the trail set up. Everybody rushed to get there at 10 o’clock. People know now that we have plenty of eggs. You can go through the trail and you don’t have to rush to get there right at 10 o’clock.”

In past events, said Grand Island Memorial Library Director Bridgette Heintz, “That was back when it was just the field. The kids ran out, grabbed all the eggs, and it ended in five minutes.”

The first Easter egg hunt, Heintz said, attracted approximately 350 people.

The current form of the Easter egg hunt includes more than the actual hunt, explained Laura Prusinski, adult programs coordinator and office administrator for the Recreation Department. “We have had indoor stations, as our redemption for our little golden tickets, which is a rabbit. We had four guessing game draws. We had the Golden Age Club with basket raffles and a bake sale. We had Kornerstone Coffee station. We have an egg-opening station, which was really beneficial this year. We had a coloring station, where you could take home some coloring pages.”

“We had a good partnership with the library,” Menter said. “They opened the library for use. We had the egg hunt for kids with adaptive needs in the library from 9 to 9:30. So there was a good turnout for that. We had the Easter bunny in there. The library put out craft stations. In the community room, having the Golden Age Club with their basket raffle and bake sale fundraiser. Having Kornerstone Coffee. I know they liked it being indoors this year. It was much better for them, and I know they were happy with the turnout. Having our table in there with the golden egg prizes and the guessing games. It was all good.”

“This current iteration happened because of COVID. Everybody liked it so much and so it’s now this big,” Heintz said.

“Also, what’s nice about doing this kind of event in this type of atmosphere is that the kids are now with their families,” Prusinski said. “They are not separated as they were in earlier years, when we had different age groups. So now, it’s one unit, families, grandparents. They’re all involved. Which is really, really nice.”

“We have the outdoor component, we have the indoor component,” Heintz said. “We had great weather today. They can always take a break, come inside, do a craft, and then go back out. Next year, hopefully, we’ll have the reading garden set and ready to go. So, there will be another spot to sit outside. Stay tuned for that.”

A number of Recreation Department employees were outside, ready to help families who were hunting for Easter eggs. One of them was Peter Marston III, a Grand Island High School senior who works for the Recreation Department. He stood at the entrance to a Veterans Park trail and he talked about the excitement for golden eggs.

“It’s fun to see the smiles on kids’ faces when they come in and see the Easter eggs,” he said. “They’re all trying to get the golden egg.”

Peter explained what happens for children who find golden eggs: “You get prizes at the rec table. I think there are two (golden eggs) in each bucket. You get a special prize. I’m not exactly sure what that prize is. The kids are shaking the eggs, looking for it. They seem really excited. They’re all really polite.”

Kaiser-Spinella said the things that made her happiest about the Spinella family Easter egg hunt was “seeing everyone happy and enjoying themselves, seeing the kids excited and how many people came to the event! And that the weather was good to us.”

Also present at the event at the VFW Post were three cowboys from Niagara Amusement Park and Splash World: Doc Holliday, Annie Oakley and Billy Clanton.

Holliday said, “I think it’s lovely to see these kids have a good time, but I think they need a card table.”

Oakley said, “I think it’s really wonderful to see the community celebrate Easter together.”

Clanton added, “It’s awesome to spread awareness to the veterans and give them the respect they deserve.”

The cowboys will offer daily shootouts at the amusement park, beginning with its opening on May 17, when it will be open for weekends only until late June.

Prusinski said the things she most enjoyed was that “Everybody is very friendly and very cooperative. There’s been a lot of happy people. Everyone is wishing each other a happy Easter. There’s not been a big crowd. Last year, we had a really big crowd all congested at once. We’ve had an even flow today, and I think people appreciate the even flow.”

What made Heintz happiest this year was that “It ran … the planning, we got it down pat. Our planning meeting was 10 minutes long. Everything was running smoothly. We had zero issues. It always makes me happy when everyone comes in, has a good time, and there is no problem. They can walk away, saying they had a really good event.”

Kaiser-Spinella said, “I enjoyed all the positive feedback and how smoothly it went this time.”

Donations to the different events were a big part of their success.

Prusinski said, “Kelly’s Country Store donated all our chocolate. Miracle League donated all the sports memorabilia, such as the Buffalo Sabres, the Buffalo Bandits, which ranged from towels to signed cups to signed helmets. It was very good. We were very appreciative for their donations.”

“Thank you to all of our sponsors, basket donations, and food vendors! We were able to keep the prices low for food purchases,” Kaiser-Spinella said. “We really couldn’t have done it without them.”

The donations included $320 that was “dispersed in golden eggs,” Kaiser-Spinella said. These eggs were scattered across the lawn behind the VFW’s pavilion.

The event at VFW Post 9249 was a fundraiser for the post.

“If I was to give a round number right now, I would say the (event) pulled in after all expenses approximately $11,000,” Kaiser-Spinella said.

“I like that I’m able to interact with the kids and make their day,” said Kelly’s Country store employee Sam Geblein.

When asked what he would like to tell children about the experience, Peter told them, “Cherish it. It doesn’t last very long.”