“In twooooo minutes!” a volunteer said into his microphone moments before a swarm of children, some with ribbons in their hair and faces painted like lions, rushed into an auditorium-like church space where hundreds dove in to snatch a colorful Easter egg filled with candy.
The Easter egg hunt and an assortment of kids’ activities were part of the New Life Covenant Church’s Easter Egg-Stravaganza event in the Grand Crossing neighborhood Saturday. Kids chugged on sweet drinks and waited to have their balloons twisted into the shape of a giraffe, while parents enjoyed the loud music and a tinfoil-wrapped hot dog.
About 1,200 parents registered for the Easter event that ran from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday at the New Life Covenant Church, 7621 S. Greenwood Ave.
“It gets better each year,” said Deeva Skinner, 31, who had a pink and bedazzled bunny painted on her left cheek. “It’s real nice that everybody’s coming together…everybody’s hopping around.”
The event was originally planned to be held outside with bouncy houses spanning an entire street, a petting zoo, and a go-kart arena. But because of the rain, they pivoted to an indoor event where around 3,000 children were expected.
“The rain kind of made us switch it up a little bit because we were gonna be totally outside,” said Jeffrey Shelby, the children’s minister at the New Life Covenant Church, a non-denominational church in Chicago’s Southeast side.
But Shelby was proud of the indoor setup for this year’s Easter event that included double-dutch jumping, connect-four, and arts and crafts activities that are usually popular among kids.
“We never have arts and crafts left over,” Shelby, 42, said. “If you don’t have any arts and crafts left over, you’ve done well.”
The Easter egg hunt is one of the church’s most highly anticipated events of the year, after the Trunks and Tricks Halloween event, which last year brought 7,000 people in and featured classic cars, said Shelby. The church’s events are free of cost, he said.
Skinner, who is from Chicago’s South Side, has been coming to the Grand Crossing church and its events since she was a high school student. Now she goes there with her 4-year-old daughter, Majesty. Her favorite part was the face painting and listening to the choir practice going on before the day’s event took off.
“It’s been real nice, especially for it to be inside,” said Skinner, noting the impromptu weather.
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Others drove from out of state to attend the coveted event.
Keshia Dacosta, 35, drove all the way from Cartersville, Georgia, with her two kids, ages 7 and 3, to come to this year’s Easter egg hunt and spend time with her parents, who live in the area and are church members.
“I love it,” said Dacosta, who was enjoying a hot dog wrapped in aluminum foil as she waited in line to get her kids’ face-painted. “It’s great, besides the cold weather.”
This is her second time at the Grand Crossing church’s events; the last one was for New Year’s. They plan to eat some pizza, deep dish may or may not be her first choice, and hit a couple of museums while they’re in town.
When the Easter bunny came into the building, a young boy’s lollipop nearly dropped from his mouth. He quickly recovered and shook his hand. The bunny posed for photos holding months-old babies, and stood patiently while eager parents got their holiday picture.
The person under the Easter bunny costume was one of nearly 100 people volunteering at the event, which spanned two floors and featured two DJs. The event took six months to make, said Shelby.
Lawanda Miller, the project manager for the church’s children ministry, was crucial to its fruition.
“We popped over 1,000 bags of popcorn yesterday,” said Miller, 53, as she ran from room to room and answered recurring phone calls to make sure everything ran smoothly.
Sitting in the lunchroom-style eating area was Sierra Williams and her two daughters, Lyla, 3 and Lyric, 6, with their faces painted like a butterfly and a fox. Even though they didn’t manage to snag any eggs, Williams said they had a great time.
Face painting was their favorite activity so far.
“Oh yeah, they love that,” said Williams, 32. “They looked forward to the face painting and they also met the Easter bunny.”
“We’re having a wonderful time,” she said.