GVACC partners with city of Lanett for Easter celebration
BY JOHN BRICE
THE LAFAYETTE SUN
LANETT — Local children and their families gathered by the fountain in downtown Lanett on the Square for an Eggscellent Egg Hunt. Community members enjoyed the inaugural event, hosted by the Greater Valley Area Chamber of Commerce in partnership with the city of Lanett, on Saturday, March 28. Admission was free for the celebration, which featured a community egg hunt for ages 12 and under, as well as a community scavenger hunt for ages 13 and up with cash prizes for both hunts. There were also free portraits with the Easter Bunny for children, arts and crafts, as well as family-friendly games and activities.
GVACC Executive Director Carrie Wood shared her excitement and passion for the event.
“We started this morning with a community-wide egg hunt,” she said. “We had 2,000 eggs hidden on both sides of the streets and then, of course, in our nice little hiding places. We gave first, second and third prizes for those. Those winners will be posted shortly. First place walked away with $200, second place walked away with $150 and third place walked away with $100. Now we are in the midst of the free pictures with the Easter Bunny.”
Wood said the day was filled with a variety of activities and options for those in attendance.
“All of the kids were provided hot dogs by the city of Lanett,” she said. “Now we are getting ready to swap over to the scavenger hunt. The scavenger hunt is for children, ages 13 and up. The final scavenger hunt clue will be given, and someone will go home with $200.”
With this being an inaugural event, Wood said she was excited for the success and strong community response.
“This is our first year, we are learning, we weren’t aware that it was spring break,” she said. “I don’t think that really hurt us, I think maybe the cooler weather. We had a good turnout this morning, we probably had over 100 kids hunting. That is decent, it is the first year — so we can grow on it.”
Previous Easter celebrations had been held at the W.O. Lance playground and were solely hosted by the city of Lanett. Wood explained how the GVACC came to partner with the city for this year’s event.
“We sat down with the city of Lanett asking them their needs and where we could go to help them satisfy those needs,” she said. “A community event was one [of the items discussed], so we decided the Easter egg hunt. [We wanted] to do one major hunt on the Square — so everyone feels involved and everyone is included. [We wanted] to involve our local churches and get our businesses out here. That is exactly what we have done today. The vendors out here are either the city of Lanett, our local businesses and local churches.”
Wood said she is thankful for the people who gave their time to make the event a success, adding she looks forward to the future Easter egg hunts to come.
“We want to entertain as much as we can, send them home with a prize, a few eggs with toys in them,” she said. “[We] just [want to provide] a good time, during this time of year. We want to thank Paul Story for coming out and giving his time this Saturday and giving us this festive music for sure. We just appreciate everyone coming out, having a good time and we look forward to next year.”
