Photo by Deb Gau Above: Micah Hoppe gave the Easter Bunny a high-five at Garvin Park on Sunday afternoon. Families searched for colorful egg-shaped cutouts as they drove down to the main picnic area of the park, and stuck around to play and to meet the Easter Bunny.

GARVIN PARK — Families looking for some Easter holiday fun just had to follow the road down to the Garvin Park playground Sunday afternoon. At the end of the road, a special guest was waiting.

“Hi, bunny!” one boy called out the window of his family’s car as the Easter Bunny waved to them.

A drive-through Easter egg hunt, goodie bags and warm spring weather all drew families to Garvin Park’s annual Easter event this weekend.

“We weren’t sure how it was going to be,” Spencer Kor said. But the turnout was strong with a line of cars stretching from the park entrance down to the main picnic area and playground. Many families were staying to explore the park after they finished the egg hunt.

“It’s a nice day to go for a hike,” Ryan Nielsen said. The Nielsen family were about to head out on the trails after taking pictures with the Easter Bunny.

This year was the second time organizers held a drive-through Easter egg hunt at Garvin Park. The 2021 event was originally planned to allow for social distancing during the COVID pandemic, said Spencer Kor. Organizers brought the drive-through event back this spring, hoping it would allow more people to enjoy the hunt.

Participants in the egg hunt kept an eye out for a total of 15 colorful egg-shaped cutouts hidden in trees and bushes along the roadside.

“We try to keep them so they’re hard to see, but not too hard,” Kor said.

Kids and families at the park Sunday said they spotted most of the egg cutouts, but some were tricky to find.

“The green one was the hardest, because it blended in with the trees,” said Jackson Milton. After the egg hunt, Milton and his grandmother Debbie Daniel stayed to explore the park.