Egg hunt only one part of ‘Eggstravaganza’
ADAMS TWP — For the older of the Grady children, finding eggs in the gymnasium was the highlight of Mars Area High School’s Eggstravaganza on Sunday, March 24, but for the younger, it was seeing candy accumulate in his bag.
Quinn Grady, 7, said she liked the hunt after grabbing a handful of eggs throughout the gym.
“The egg hunt was fun,” she said.
Bryson Grady, 3, liked the other end of the hunt.
“Dropping candy in the basket,” he said, after being asked what his favorite part of the event was.
The Eggstravaganza organized by the Mars Area High School student council was the third to take place at the school, and the third to be a fundraiser for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. The egg hunt was just one activity at the Eggstravaganza — throughout the school were different stations set up and run by students at the school, who led many younger children in their activities.
The reward for most of the games and activities at the event? Easter candy and small toys. The event had places where people could donate to St. Jude, which Meghan Boland, faculty adviser for Mars high school’s student council, said was the only reason people brought money to the Eggstravaganza.
“We usually have about 200 kids; it’s a free event to the public,” Boland said.
While Boland advised the 80 members of student council on how to organize the event, she said the students were mainly responsible for putting it together.
William Matusek, president of Mars high school’s student council, said that although the Eggstravaganza has become an annual event at the school, the students get to put their own stamp on it in different ways.
“Anything that the kids enjoy, you can just build onto that,” Matusek said of picking the event up from the previous year’s leaders. “We kind of start planning, start in January; it’s all pretty easy to get done. It’s just a matter of executing it all and getting here.”
In addition the egg hunts, the event boasted crafting tables, a duck pond game, hopping races, bingo and the ever-popular volleyball court.
“Last year there were 100 kids playing volleyball,” Matusek said.
Claire Magness, vice president of Mars high school’s student council, said about 60 students organized Sunday’s event. She said the undertaking was easy thanks to the students being able to learn from prior year’s events.
“The stations are pretty easy and they are built around their age groups,” Magness said.
Many people who attended the event were part of the Mars Area School District community, but many came from other districts to share in the fun. The younger Mars school district students who played in the activities Sunday particularly enjoyed being able to interact with high school students, according to Boland.
“Most of the stations have been the same, we tweak it a little over the years to make it a little more age-appropriate for the kids,” Boland said. “The elementary-age kids really think it’s cool that they get to hang out with the high schoolers.”
