Lehi People
Lehi’s annual Easter egg hunt goes door-to-door
Lehi City’s annual Easter Egg Hunt was canceled because of COVID-19 restrictions, but that didn’t stop city workers from making magic on Saturday morning, April 4.
“We had most of the eggs already and I ordered more just before they stopped filling orders,” said Melanie Hansen, Lehi City Events Coordinator. Hansen had the idea to bring the egg hunt to as many Lehi homes as possible. With 42,000 pre-filled plastic eggs, that meant she was going to need a lot of helpers. “I thought maybe I could get 20 people to help me and we could each take 70 homes. My co-workers thought I’d lost my mind!” Hansen said with a laugh. She emailed a few Lehi City departments for help and before she knew it, Hansen had 80 volunteers from the Parks Department, Legacy Center, the Library and the Literacy Center, Police and Fire Departments, the City Council, and Miss Lehi Royalty.
Volunteers picked up bags of plastic eggs at 7 a.m. on April 4, then hopped to 1,430 homes all over the city. Hansen created a sign-up form online for families to request a visit from the city’s Easter Bunnies and the requests came in quickly. According to Hansen, they are going to try to make a delivery to everyone who ended up on the waitlist before Easter Sunday.
“The opportunity to be a helper for the Easter Bunny and personally deliver eggs to local families was an experience I’ll always remember. It was amazing for Lehi City to bring a sense of normalcy and magic to families during these unprecedented and difficult times. We’re very fortunate to live in a community that values its residents,” said Miss Lehi, Lindsey Larsen. Larsen and her attendants accessorized with pink gloves to hide the eggs.
“I sent an email to the families explaining that they might see people hiding eggs in their yard Saturday morning. They all got a note from the real Easter Bunny that morning, too,” said Hansen. Throughout the day on Saturday, Hansen received hundreds of heartfelt thank you posts on social media with photos of smiling children and their haul of eggs.
“My kids were so excited. We went on a walk and came back to a magical surprise. It was such a kind gesture it made me a little teary-eyed. Thank you to everyone involved,” said Lehi mom, Sara Wells.
“This was awesome. I love our community and the effort you all make to make it special in these difficult times. It was my son’s first Easter egg hunt,” said Jaclyn Tjaden.
“It gave us something to do outside and kept the magic alive for my two-year-old. Lehi is fantastic!” said Heather Chadwick.
“I’m happy we could pull this off. I love our Easter celebration and seeing everyone together, but this was very special. This is such a difficult time and I feel a real sense of community through all of it. Everyone is stepping up and taking care of each other,” said Hansen.
