Not Your Traditional Easter Egg Hunt at the CORE
On Saturday, April 12 from 9 until about 10:30 a.m., the CORE held its sixth annual Underwater Easter Egg Hunt. This is the first time the event had community sponsors. The first group up was the two to five years old. In total there were 60+ kids who participated.
By Chris Cole,
Staff Writer
The CORE is known for promoting Fitness, Family and Fellowship. Having begun as a YMCA in 2000, it’s expanded and is continuing to expand thanks to their Project 3>>>30 initiative (more to come on that next week). With that expansion there might be a fourth “F” added – FUN!
On Saturday, April 12, the CORE took a unique approach to the yearly Easter tradition of the egg hunt. Instead of having kids run out into the grass looking for those plastic eggs hidden in bushes, flower beds or under trees, they were instead placed…under water? Or in some cases, floating on top.
“It’s crazy, I didn’t think of that either,” said Tiffanie Vick, the Membership Director and Group Fitness Coordinator for the CORE. “We have an indoor pool, we have a great possibility to use it for great things and kids love pools. Everybody loves to jump in and splash. It’s a very unique way of doing (an Easter Egg Hunt).”
Merritt Carter and her father Michael counted the number of eggs she collected from the pool.
Truth be told, this is actually the sixth year that the CORE has been doing the Underwater Easter Egg hunt but the first year community sponsors have stepped up and contributed prizes for the boys and girls who collected more so than found the most eggs in their respective age groups.
“We’re thankful and grateful to have them sponsor our prize baskets,” said Vick. “We had The Decorating Centre here in Scottsville, The Big MOO ice cream shop across from Scottsville Baptist along with Shop Southern Boutique. So we’re thankful for them to do that.”
Vick emphasized that the community sponsorships that helped make these prize baskets possible, along with the many other sponsors the CORE has, benefits everyone. “A lot of people, when they see those sponsorships, you see that ‘oh, there are some great places here in Scottsville.’ Honestly, just as a community building these kids up and showing we’re standing behind them, it builds their confidence in showing there is a community building them up to do good things in their life too.”
With the expansion of what the CORE will be able to offer in the very near future, Vick sees the Underwater Easter Egg Hunt as something that becomes a staple event which Scottsville will become known for.
The middle group was up next. In this group, some of the eggs were submersed but there were plenty still floating.
“We bring people in from Alvaton, Bowling Green, Glasgow because it is open to all the community. You don’t have to be a member of the CORE to come to this (and participate). This is something we want to put on for the kids because that’s what we’re here for,” said Vick.
She also mentioned that events like this help young swimmers especially build up swimming skills in the pool. From learning how to jump into the pool safely “feet first” to developing strength in their arms and legs, it’s “something that parents can enjoy with their kids and build core memories.”
Vick also mentioned that working in an environment where creative, out-of-the-box ideas such as taking an Easter Egg Hunt from the field into the pool makes events such as this all the more enjoyable. She credited Ernie Stafford, the Executive Director of the CORE for “always being behind us. If we come to him with these ideas he’s like, ‘Let’s do it.’ If it’s for the kids he’s going to see that it happens. That’s a great way to be.”
Now you might be wondering “if the kids are collecting these plastic eggs and it’s an underwater egg hunt, how do they get the eggs to sink?”
While the Easter Bunny didn’t go for a swim, he was available for photos with the kids who did. Maverick and Waylon Means took advantage of that in this photo.
“We got some of those decorative rocks you can get at the Dollar Tree,” said Vick. “The hardest part was knowing how many to put in the eggs to get the result we wanted.”
It must have worked though, by the end of the event, nearly all the eggs were out of the pool and everyone who participated seemed to have a great time.
In total there were three age groups that participated.
Ages two to five years old were required to wear flotation devices and were encouraged to be accompanied by a parent in the pool. The winners received a prize from Shop Southern Boutique. The winner for the boys was Maverick Means and the winner for the girls was Lainey Cosby.
The basket winners of the intermediate group posed with Tiffanie Vick who helped organize the Underwater Easter Egg Hunt this year. The winners are Raylynn Hawks and Andrew Willis. The Big MOO sponsored their prize baskets.
Ages six to eight years old were required to know how to swim and had some of the eggs submerged. Their prizes were sponsored by The Big MOO. The winner for the boys was Andrew Willis and the winner for the girls was Raylynn Hawks.
Finally, nine to 12 years old had to also know how to swim and many of their eggs were submerged. Their prizes were sponsored by The Decorating Centre. The boys winner was Nate Tollefson and the girls winner was Molli Niles.
Vick, however, pointed out that everyone walked away a winner as “they probably had more fun tossing the eggs around and splashing than they did actually collecting them” but was relieved that nearly all the eggs were out of the pool by the end of the event. “We don’t have to get them ourselves now.”
The oldest group of kids went last. The winners for the most eggs collected in their group was Molli Niles and Nate Tollefson. Their prize baskets were sponsored by The Decorating Centre.
