Crack Open Some Easter Fun

Eggstraordinary events around the North

If your family celebrates Easter, chances are good you’ve got your Easter Sunday traditions down pat: Easter bonnet, Easter service, Easter ham, and Easter egg hunt. But it turns out, the day of, the day before, and even the weeks ahead offer some extra-special activities and social events to inspire folks to step out of their, well…shell. We rounded up a few we thought might add some excitement to your usual celebration.

The Biggest Egg Hunt in Michigan
The Lake City Area Firemen’s Association is bringing the heat to beat what they believe is the state’s current record of a 27,000-egg Easter hunt by filling at least 30,000 eggs—and as many as 60,000, depending on how much “fill material” they can get—for their April 16 Easter Eggstravaganza. The record-breaking fun begins at 11:30am at Maple Grove Park, 5547 W. Davis Rd. in Lake City.

Strolling Brunch and Hunt in Leelanau
Patch together a pretty springtime setting—rolling hills, just-awakening vineyard, horses moseying about the paddocks—with the best meal of any Sunday: brunch. Black Star Farms is doing up Easter Sunday with a strolling brunch. Think Sweet Cream Pancakes (with maple syrup, cinnamon-honey whipped butter, and jelly beans); farm-fresh Waldorf salad; Black Star Benedict; glazed ham; pastries; and all sorts of other fixings for $20-$40 per person, plus mimosas and wines by the glass and bottle for an extra charge. An outdoor Easter egg hunt for kiddos caps off each brunch; as of press time, tickets for three scheduled brunches between 9:30am and 2pm remain. Buy yours at blackstarfarms.com/easter-brunch.

Church & Family Photos in Gaylord
Not into the Easter bunny? Gaylord’s Mount Hope Church is hosting a special family Easter service at 10:30am, after which families can stay to have their photos taken together—no furry animals necessary. (Unless Dad decides not to shave for the holiday.) Photos will be emailed later in the month. Gaylordchurch.com.

Lenten Soup Supper Study on Old Mission Peninsula
Do you talk the talk or walk the walk? Folks looking for a faith-forward way to embrace the Easter season ahead of the traditional Sunday church service should check out the Lenten Soup Supper Study that Old Mission Peninsula United Methodist Church hosts this week. The event—6pm-7:30 Wednesday, April 13—welcomes anyone who wants to belly up for a bowl of soup, break bread, and—whether they’ve read it or not—talk about author Adam Hamilton’s book The Walk: Five Essential Practices of a Christian Life. Please call the church at (231) 223-4393 to reserve a chair at the table.

Those looking to attend an awe-inspiring Easter Sunday mass will love the Son-Rise Service at 7am Easter Sunday, followed at 7:30am with the much-anticipated return of the church’s traditional Easter Sunday breakfast—the first in two years, Old Mission Peninsula UMC’s Wendy Warren tells Northern Express. For information on these and other Easter week events at UMC, call the church (number above), which is located at 16426 Center Rd.

Easter Bunny & Pet Photos in Petoskey
Count on Grandpa Shorter’s to make the most of Easter events. Petoskey’s O.G. souvenir store has been bringing the Easter Bunny out of his burrow for kid photo ops since April 2, but he’ll make a special appearance at the store from 6pm to 8pm Thursday, April 14, to get pictured with your pets. He’ll come back 1pm to 4pm Friday and all day Saturday (9:30am to 4pm) in a fresh outfit so kids allergic to pets won’t have any allergy worries! All kids who visit the bunny get a free gift, and parents kind of do too—they can use their own camera to shoot the photo for free.

A special mailbox waits outside the store for kids who want to send the Bunny a letter before Easter. (Those with a return address will receive a letter back from the bunny.) If you’re there before April 15, do two things: 1) Take a guess at how many eggs are in Grandpa’s window; the correct guess gets a chance to win a $100 gift certificate from Grandpa Shorter’s. 2) Ask staff (or download at grandpashorters.com) for a clue sheet for the April 16 Easter Egg Scavenger Hunt, when treasures will be hidden all around Downtown Petoskey.

Family Bike Ride, Egg Hunt, and (Parents-Only) Wine in Glen Arbor
After a tragic accident and fire forced its closure last August, Crystal River Outfitters’ canoe and kayak livery is on track to open again May 6. The rest of the venues that are part of the Crystal River Outfitter Recreational District—The Cyclery, Coastal, and M22 Glen Arbor wine tasting bar and patio—will herald the season a wee bit earlier, hosting families in and around their side of M-22 for a mega Easter egg hunt Saturday, April 16.

The fun officially starts at 3pm with face painting and crafts for kids, and the egg hunt follows at 4pm. Kate Springsdorf, CRO’s wine and events supervisor, tells us there will be “a ton of eggs” and equal opportunity for bigger kids and tots 4 and under to gather them, as well as an appearance from the Easter Bunny.

Our suggestion? If the weather’s decent, make the most of the day before or after the event by hitting the Sleeping Bear Heritage Trail, which runs right by the District, and toast the trail with one of the 16 local wines or two hard ciders available at the M22 tasting room. Need bikes? You can rent just about any kind you want for adults and kids (plus kid tow-behind trailers) at The Cyclery, which, like the M22 tasting room and Coastal clothing shop, will be open from 10am to 7pm Saturday.

More Easter Egg Hunts
Be sure to check out one of these community events happening Saturday, April 16:

- Arcadia: Head over to Pleasant Valley Community Center by 11am to meet the Easter Bunny, join an Easter egg hunt, play games, and win prizes.

- Charlevoix: Hunts for 4,500 prize-filled eggs will happen at 2pm at East Park for kids up to 10 years old. Kids will hunt in groups: 2 years old and under, 3-4 years, 5-6 years, and 7-10 years. BYOBasket.

- Cheboygan: 10am for 0- to 8-year-olds at Washington Park, and for kids age 9 and older at Major City Park.

- Frankfort: More than 3,000 eggs await at the Frankfort-Elberta Chamber of Commerce Annual Easter Egg Hunt. Be at Mineral Springs Park in Downtown Frankfort at 10am with your own basket or bag.

- Manistee: Hop on down to Veterans Memorial Park for a hunt with wiggle room. Any time between 11am and 1pm, adults can grab a bag of Easter eggs to take home and surprise kids with their own Easter egg hunt.

- Petoskey: The public is welcome to hunt or to help by donating candy or small toys that can fit inside plastic Easter eggs before the official hunt at 11am at Trinity Missionary Church. The Fairgrounds at 1129 Charlevoix Ave. in Petoskey will also host the annual Fairgrounds Egg Scramble.

- Harbor Springs: 11 am at Zorn Park. Bags provided.

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