Large Easter eggs are popping up all around Colfax and the hunt to find them is already on. Colfax Main Street is sponsoring the “Big Egg” Hunt through the holiday giving community members the chance to participate in a fun activity while social distancing.
“We wanted to provide an alternative social distancing type activity families can do because we’re not quite out of the pandemic just yet,” Colfax Main Street Executive Director Stuart Patterson said. “We had 13 volunteer artists paint or create these eggs; it’s been a fun way to show off local talent and creativity.”
The unique eggs are spread across the city in local businesses and homes. A list of the addresses where eggs can be found is available through Colfax Main Street, allowing people to walk or drive around town to find them.
“We’ve had a lot of these local artists tell us they had a lot of fun with their families painting the big eggs,” Patterson said.
With more than 200 people in attendance for the 2019 Spring Market and Eggstravaganza at the Colfax Historical Society grounds, Main Street organizers decided to forgo a traditional egg hunt this year. With factors including not everyone having been vaccinated yet and herd immunity is not established, the group worked on smaller activities to help reduce the risk.
“With those numbers, we didn’t want to be a group that was responsible for a potential outbreak of COVID-19 in our community especially when we have a community with diverse opinions on COVID-19 safety,” Patterson said. “We’ve made smaller-scale activities families can participate in on their own time to help reduce risk. We’re really anxious and excited to hopefully have more in-person gathering type of events at the end of the year when there’s been more thorough vaccine roll out and herd immunity.”
Along with the egg hunt, Easter magnet craft kits are available for families at Absolutely Younique Boutique in downtown Colfax. The kits are ready for pick up during the boutique’s open hours Tuesday through Saturday.
“We thought it would be something fun for families to do on their own time,” Patterson said.
Although activities are still not quite back to the previous normal, organizers thought it was important to still celebrate, even if it does look a little different.
“We hope it gives people fun things to do and beautiful and fun things to look at,” Patterson said. “We’ve had the most dreary year in recent collective memory and we hope people enjoy looking at happy, bright colored artwork around town, even if they don’t do the full Big Egg Hunt.”
Colfax Main Street is always looking for new, creative activities for the community and volunteers to help make them happen. Whether it is a project for downtown or leading an effort, organizers want to hear about it.
“I want to thank all our volunteers who help make things happen in Colfax whether it’s one hour helping to pick up trash or several hours planning an event. Community events, activities and projects take a lot of volunteer work and leadership,” Patterson said. “If someone has an idea for a community activity or project that is within the purview of our organization, come talk to us. You might just have a winning idea. If you want your community to be great, everyone has to put the time and effort into making it great.”
A great way to see what is happening with Colfax Main Street is to follow the organization’s Facebook page. Volunteer projects, events and activities are posted frequently, giving anyone the chance to participate.
Contact Jamee A. Pierson at 641-792-3121 ext. 6534 or jpierson@newtondailynews.com