Overton Park Easter Egg Hunt draws crowd despite weather

The annual Overton Park Easter Egg Hunt was held successfully on Saturday, March 17 at noon despite gloomy weather, with at least 250 children, family members and event organizers taking part.

Much of the Birmingham metro had occasionally heavy rain on Saturday morning, but the precipitation stopped entirely a few minutes before the event, which is sponsored by Off-Shoots Garden Club and Overton Park Garden Club.

Just before the beginning of the Easter egg hunt, the children — many of them clearly anxious to get started — and their parents lined up at two locations on the perimeter of the park.

When given the signal to begin, the kids scrambled enthusiastically for the nearly 2,500 brightly colored plastic eggs filled with candy and other treats and scattered on the grass.

A yellow caution tape divided the park into two areas — one for toddlers and small children and one for elementary and middle-school age kids.

The eggs were all gathered up in less than five minutes.

The event also featured face painting, a cake walk and an appearance by the Easter Bunny, who posed for photos with attendees.

The hunt is “an honored, long-standing tradition” in the community, according to event co-chair Kim Eriksson.

“It's an absolute joy and privilege to experience our families coming together to celebrate Easter,” she said. “Watching the excitement on the faces of the little ones is extremely rewarding.”

The Easter eggs spread around the park included some “gold prize eggs” sponsored by about 10 local businesses, according to the other event co-chair, Samantha Ebert.

The support from sponsors will also allow organizers to make donations to Brookwood Forest Elementary School and Birmingham nonprofit The Lovelady Center, Ebert said.

Organizers also accepted donations of toiletry items for the women at The Lovelady Center.

“We are woman-based club and wanted to give back to an organization that is also serving women,” Ebert said. “We chose to collect travel-sized toiletries because even a small donation impacts the self-esteem and care of these women and their children.”

Ebert and Eriksson are both members of Off-Shoots Garden Club, which has sponsored the Easter egg hunt for almost 40 years, as well as raising money for local charities.

Overton Park Garden Club has partnered with Off-Shoots since 2016 in putting on the Easter egg hunt, according to Ebert

Organizers begin gathering committee members in the fall and officially begin planning the egg hunt in January, according to Eriksson.

The typical attendance at the event is about 350, Ebert said.