Sweets and treats will appear on doorsteps and in homes across the Peninsula this weekend. But the great bunny will make a special stop at Centennial Park and with helpers from the Central Saanich Lions will create a scramble of hidden candies for kids to find Sunday starting at noon.
“It’s usually over by 12:02,” laughed Dave Glasgow, who is among the Central Saanich Lions who will help pull off the annual easter egg hunt. Kids divvied up into four age groups will forage among the trees of the popular Peninsula park in search of little candies and treats. One lucky youth will find a special golden egg for a larger prize.
The local Lions club has been helping host the event for about 36 years, though when asked, no one could pinpoint the date it started, or why.
“It’s just something we like to do,” Glasgow said. “Nobody remembers how it started.”
Hundreds of kids, “250 would be a conservative estimate” fill the park each year, explained Glasgow who has seen about four of the annual hunts.
“Some years it’s raining, some years it’s not. It doesn’t matter,” Glasgow said. “Some (kids) have baskets, some are dressed up … it’s fun.”
The Easter Bunny was unavailable for comment.
The hunt starts at noon, Sunday, April 24 in Centennial Park off Wallace Drive.