It wasn’t a good weather day on Sunday March 28.  It was rainy.  It was cold.  But, hundreds of North Royalton families came to Memorial Park for an Easter Egg Hunt.

In the midst of a pandemic, families came to the Park, wearing masks and social distancing to gather and have their children participate in an Easter Egg Hunt.

Only 25 children were allowed at a time inside the fenced in playground area at the Park.  Parents stood around the fence watching their child gather up their 10 Easter Eggs,  filled with candy, chocolate and other goodies.

Long-time North Royalton residents remember when the Kiwanis Club had sponsored the event.  This year, the North Royalton Lions Club and the Royalton Hills Lions Club took it over.

North Royalton Mayor Larry Antoskiewicz said it was good to see so many residents come to the Easter Egg Hunt.

“They want to start getting out.  It’s the first event that the city has had to get the community to come together.  Hopefully, we’ll be able to have more events this year so we can get back to normal.  This is the kind of thing that we have missed in the city.  I love to go to all these city events to see all the clubs and club members, and communicate with and talk to people.  I’ve missed that,” said Antoskiewicz.

North Royalton City Council President Paul Marnecheck hopes this is the first of many chances residents will have to show their community spirit.

Marnecheck added, “A lot of residents came out and gave their time to make this event a success.  It’s a sign of normalcy.  I think it’s a sign that people are starting to feel comfortable again.  The vaccines are working.”

While the Easter Egg Hunt is a sign of normalcy, Marnecheck said the event also shows the ‘new normal’ in everyone’s life.

“Everyone in line is socially distanced and were respectful to each other.  I think we’re starting to get back to being a community again.”

Chuck Christopher brought his son and family to the Easter Egg Hunt.  He isn’t ready to say we’re back to normal.  “Let’s hope.”

North Royalton resident Kyle Dougherty said it’s good to get out.  “It’s nice to have some activities going on.”

The 2021 Easter Egg Hunt will be remembered as an event that showed off North Royalton as a community for the first time in a long time.

By JOE JASTRZEMSKI

Contributing  Writer

Renewing an Egg-cellent Tradition

The season of spring brings with it many changes that we look forward to every year:  warmer weather, sunnier skies, and the return to partaking in many enjoyable outdoor activities that have been missed during the cold winter months. This year, spring means the return of many missed community events that were canceled last year due to the Covid-19 pandemic; such as, the City of North Royalton’s Annual Community Easter Egg Hunt.

The residents at Royalton Woods, A Randall Residence, were especially excited to hear that the Easter egg hunt was returning this year since it meant the return of a longtime favorite community project.  On March 24, residents and staff gathered in the Community Room at Royalton Woods and spent the afternoon to fill eggs with candy for the hunt. Residents and staff laughed and reminisced about their own Easter traditions as they busily filled thousands of colorful plastic eggs with candy. The residents particularly look forward to partaking in this event, because it gives them a chance to give back to the community. Knowing that their hard work will provide joy to the kids in the community makes their participation in this project even more meaningful.

Royalton Woods staff said that the service project provided 3,000 eggs for this year’s hunt sponsored by members of the North Royalton Lions clubs. The free community egg hunt was held on March 28 at Memorial Park. The staff at Royalton Woods thanks the members of the community for inviting them to once again partake in an annual project that has become a longtime favorite tradition for their residents.

Royalton Woods: A Randall Residence is located at 14277 State Road in North Royalton, just south of Route 82. For more information, call 440-582-4111 or or visit www.randallresidence.com/rwoods.  Submitted by Hannah Wenck