High winds on April 1 forced Arnold Chamber of Commerce members to scramble for a way to hold the Eggstravaganza at the Fox High School football field in Arnold.
Organizers modified the event, which ran from 10 a.m. to noon.
“In the past, all of the eggs were put out (on the football field), the horn went off, the kids ran and all of the eggs were gone in like two minutes,” said Stephanie Engle, chamber executive director. “(This year), we were continuously throwing eggs out for two hours. In that two-hour period, parents were able to come and their kids were still able to get eggs.”
Engle estimated that about 1,000 people attended the event with more than 200 children collecting plastic eggs filled with candy and other prizes.
“It was hard to tell how many people came because it was continuous,” she said. “Some would stay for five minutes; some would stay for 20 minutes and some stayed for the majority of the day.”
The chamber did not award large prizes as it had planned because children were not divided into specific sections of the field by age. Organizers had planned to fill some of the eggs with tickets for children to redeem for bicycles and other large prizes.
“There was no way to keep (the eggs) separate by age group,” Engle said. “We would have had 10-year-olds winning a bike for a 1-year-old. We are looking into a future opportunity to hand out the prizes.”
The event still featured two balloon artists, and Engle said she was able to bring in two face-painting artists after the company that supplies an inflatable obstacle course had to cancel because of the windy conditions.
The Easter bunny and Chick were at the event to take pictures with children, and seven of the scheduled 22 vendors who were expected to take part set up tables to hand out items to children.
“ReMax Best Choice, our title sponsor, handed out chances to win a St. Louis Zoo membership, and I was so grateful for the vendors who were able to stay.”
When the event started, organizers let children gather as many eggs as they wanted. However, chamber members quickly started asking parents to limit the number of eggs their children collected to 10 in fear they wouldn’t have enough eggs to last throughout the event, Engle said.
She said that number eventually was increased to 15, and at the end of the event, children were allowed to take as many eggs as they could find so none would be left on the field.
Engle said the chamber members considered canceling the event, but they didn’t want to because this was the first egg hunt to be held since the COVID-19 pandemic. She also said it turned out better than she expected.
“At first I was super disappointed in the way the event was turning out,” she said. “Then I went out onto the field to throw eggs out, and the kids loved it. They loved it when I threw them straight up into the air and they were blowing around. Seeing the kids still laugh, smile and run around made my heart happy that the event wasn’t a total loss.”
Engle said the chamber plans to hold an Eggstravaganza next year, and she also said organizers will have a backup plan in place in case of poor weather.