Malmstrom families enjoy Easter Egg Hunt and Spring Carnival

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Kristina Overton
  • 341st Missile Wing Public Affairs Office
MALMSTROM AIR FORCE BASE, Mont. --  The day was filled with enthusiasm, as children gathered at the base chapel and the Youth Center for fun activities and family events April 3. The base chapel held their 3rd annual Easter Egg Hunt, and later in the day, the Youth Center threw the Spring Carnival for families to enjoy.

The egg hunt started off in the Chapel Annex with a brief explanation of the Easter holiday and a prayer before releasing the children into the morning activity. At 10:05 a.m., children bolted out of the base chapel doors, hot in pursuit of the hundreds of colorful candy-filled eggs scattered around the building.

"The event has grown drastically from the first year," said Janet Smith, Protestant religious education coordinator. "When we first started three years ago, we had 16 people attend. This year, 76 people came. We do it to let the community know that we're here, and want to be a part of their lives."

After the multicolored specks in the grass had quickly vanished from their illusive hiding places and the hunt was over, everyone returned to the Annex to sort through the eggs and collect the treats inside.

"It's something fun that families can do together and we're excited to be able to host it here at the chapel," said Chaplain (Capt.) Jeromy Wells. "It's a way for us to show our faith and care for the various families we serve here at Malmstrom."

The children were split into different age groups. 1 and 2-year-olds were in the chapel nursery, 3 and 4-year-olds had their hunt in the front yard of the chapel, and 5 and up were in the back.

An hour later at the Youth Center, people began to pour in the doors, quickly buying wristbands for the excited youth.

The annual Spring Carnival had face-painting, candy making, ring bottle toss, a jumpy castle, a bunny hop game and many more exciting attractions for families. The Easter Bunny also made a surprise visit to the carnival, meeting and greeting everyone and taking pictures. Another highlight of the afternoon was the door prizes.

"Each child was given a wristband with a number on it, which was put into a bowl for drawing the door prizes," said Cynthia Berg, Youth Center director. "Some of the door prizes we gave away were K'nex superstructure building sets, children police motorbikes, digital cameras and scrapbooking binders for the older kids."

Other prizes included Leapfrog learning tools, family DVD's to include 'The Incredibles' and 'Pirates of the Caribbean III: At World's End,' 3-D books, CD players, dolls, toys and candy.

Families also enjoyed hot dogs, nachos, cotton candy and many other treats being sold at the Spring Carnival.

"Overall the event was awesome," Mrs. Berg said. "Everybody walked out with big bags of goodies and some amazing prizes. It's one of those activities that we look forward to putting on each year for the community and it wouldn't be possible without our sponsorship and all the volunteers. We had a really great time."