Easter Celebration free for kids at Madawaska Rec Center

MADAWASKA, Maine — An annual Easter Celebration is coming to Madawaska this Saturday with a twist.

Children of the St. John Valley will have the opportunity to celebrate Easter with their friends and family Saturday at the Multipurpose Center in Madawaska. The event will have bouncy houses, arts and crafts, snacks, a parachute and even a special guest: the Easter Bunny.

The event is free and intended for children 10 and under. 

“It’s just kind of a party,” said Recreation Department Director Sharon Picard. 

With three feet of snow still remaining on the multipurpose field and mucky conditions, the celebration will not include an Easter egg hunt, according to Picard. 

“I still wanted children to be able to have a good time,” Picard said. “I remember my young children going out for Easter egg hunts and always being upset because they only got two eggs. So what we’re doing is giving every child a basket filled with the eggs they would normally have to find.”

Roughly 100 baskets filled with candy-stuffed eggs, chocolate bunnies and stuffed animals have been prepared for the event so that no child in attendance will leave empty-handed.  

“It’s been a long winter, kids have been cooped up, it’s been COVID, they don’t get much opportunity to play with their friends outside of school,” Picard said. “I am hoping to bring the community together, to get out and see their neighbors that they haven’t seen in a social setting. Some of these kids have never been able to have an Easter egg hunt or enjoy a bounce house because of covid regulations. I’m just trying to return a little bit of normalcy to kids 10 and under in a safe environment where they can run and play and jump on the bounce houses and hopefully push spring a little bit along.” 

The Easter Celebration will be held from 10 a.m. until noon Saturday, April 16.