Despite the brisk weather, hundreds of families hopped their way over to the Adelaide Hunter Hoodless Homestead in St. George for its tenth annual Easter at Addie’s fundraiser on Friday, March 29, 2024.
The sold-out event garnered around 400 residents who were both return visitors, and others who were exploring all that the event had to offer for the first time.
“The weather has been a little bit off today, but families have come bundled up and the turnout has just been fantastic,” said Nancy Carubba, manager for the Adelaide Hunter Hoodless Homestead. “We’ve sold out and so we’ll have somewhere between 350 to 400 people who have come out by the end of the day and it’s really wonderful because people are establishing traditions, you know? Some kids have been coming for a few years now and it’s nice because they tell us about what it was like all the previous years and it’s just fun to hear how it’s grown from them.”
From photos with the Easter Bunny to egg hunts every hour, crafts and colouring, face painting and a scavenger hunt, as well as a petting zoo with bunnies, silkie chickens and a lamb, there were plenty of activities available throughout the afternoon.
For the hourly egg hunts, enthusiastic youngsters lined up on the grass before taking off and grabbing as many of the colourful eggs they could stuff in their baskets and in return, they received a bag of candy to take home with them.
Margaret Byl, president for the Federated Women’s Institutes of Canada, added that the event was not only a great learning opportunity for the children, but an event that helps the homestead to continue to run.
“This is really our biggest fundraiser of the year and it’s just great to see the community come together and learn about the homestead and its history, but also to help support us,” said Byl.
Carubba added that without the community, they wouldn’t be able to put the event on every year.
“We really have to just thank the sponsors, volunteers and the community for supporting us so well each year,” she said. “We’re a non-for-profit charitable organization and as such, we can only exist by municipal funding, the grants that we apply for and the profit we generate ourselves through the homestead’s gift shop and events, so these events are really important to us.”
Poonam Divekar, a St. George resident, said that as a returning family, they enjoyed having a space that wasn’t too overwhelming to tackle for her young children.
“My kids are pretty young so it’s easier to keep track of them here because it’s not an overly large property so it’s not overwhelming for them or us, it’s also close to home and so for us, it’s just a perfect place for the egg hunt,” she said.
Kimberly De Jong’s reporting is funded by the Canadian government through its Local Journalism Initiative.The funding allows her to report rural and agricultural stories from Blandford-Blenheim and Brant County. Reach her at kimberly.dejong@brantbeacon.ca.
