Yelm to host three Easter egg hunts for teens, adults and dogs

Line Roy wants more people involved in Easter festivities this April, including egg hunts.

It’s part of the City of Yelm communications and recreation coordinator’s goal to increase activities for Yelm residents — and not just for small kids.

“People are always asking for stuff for teens to do,” Roy said, adding this was especially the case this year with less offerings from the schools. “We kind of saw an opportunity to fill some of those gaps.”

Enter the first-ever Glow and Go Egg Hunt, where teens 14 to 17 can bring their friends and flashlights for a nighttime jaunt through Cochrane Park in search of candy-filled eggs and a few special prizes.

The rain-or-shine event is set for Friday, April 4, and costs $20 to attend. Registration begins at 7:30 p.m.

“All the eggs will have candy in them, some will have prizes from the local businesses,” Roy said. “I think it’ll kind of let them be kids again for a night — and the adults, too.”

Speaking of adults, the Midnight Eggstravaganza Adult Easter Egg Hunt on Saturday, April 5, features a similar flashlight search across Cochrane Park, only this one is exclusive to those 21 and up. Tickets are also $20.

“This is our second year doing the midnight egg hunt for adults,” Roy said. “We have prizes that are donated from local businesses. We put out extra eggs this year. I doubled our eggs, so we’re hiding about 5,000 eggs between the two events, so about 2,500 each.”

Note to reader, the “midnight” event for adults actually takes place at 8 p.m. Check-in is at 7:30 p.m.

According to the event post on Facebook, over 250 people have expressed interest in attending the 21-and-up egg hunt, including at least 26 who indicated they were going. Roy said participants had a great time last year, and she’s hoping for the same this year.

“When I started (as coordinator), we really wanted to increase recreation activities for everyone in Yelm,” Roy said. “There’s a lot for kids, especially in the summer. The (Yelm Lions Club) have their summer movies and the library does their story times and everything. But having a little bit more opportunities for adults to just go out and have some fun.”

Opportunities that, Roy said, don’t involve simply going to a restaurant or out for a couple drinks. While there won’t be alcohol at the event itself, some of the prizes will come from “21-and-up establishments.”

“It’s just a little bit more fun to get out and do something,” Roy said.

Teens and adults aren’t the only ones eligible for some egg hunting this April.

On Saturday, April 19, the City of Yelm will host its inaugural Dog Gone Egg Hunt at 9 a.m. at Yelm Dog Park. The free event features eggs in both the big and small dog areas.

“That one will be a little bit different. There are bigger eggs,” Roy said. “And each of the eggs is stuffed with a dog toy. The dogs, they’ll just be out in the park, so the dogs can kind of pick one. We’ll ask their owners to open it up. The dog can keep the toy, leave the egg. We’ll have a box out so that (the owners) can drop the eggs in there so that we can do it again next year. And it’s just kind of a fun way to get everyone engaged.”

Engagement is key for Roy. Since assuming the position of communications and recreation coordinator in 2022, the City of Yelm has increased its yearly programming from two to over 100 events, programs and other offerings. Roy said the response has been “incredible.”

“People love having things to do in their own community,” Roy said. “I think people like seeing what their community has to offer. I think it’s cool when you can see that everything you need to be happy and thriving and successful in your community is in your community.”

Roy says she enjoys the process of planning an event — and then seeing what it turns into.

“Here’s this tiny little seed of an idea, and then it grows and grows and grows and grows until you have this tree of an event,” Roy said. “It’s been really neat to see the same people at the different events every year.”

For more information about the upcoming egg hunts, including dates, times, locations and registration details, visit the City of Yelm Parks and Recreation Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/YelmParks.

View the City of Yelm Parks and Recreation programs at https://www.ci.yelm.wa.us/play/parks_and_recreation_programs.php.