"In Your Easter Bonnet" and "Easter Bunny Day" At Vern Allen Park

Washingtonville 4/13 - The weather may have been a bit chilly, but hearts were warm at Vern Allen Park. The Event Committee did an outstanding job of rescheduling and cleaning away snow after a surprise snowfall of about 3 inches on Friday night. But nothing could stop an Easter Parade, Bonnet Contest, and 2 Egg Hunts.

While there were a little fewer contestants than in previous years, the  best hats were simply amazing. They were creative, beautiful, and fun. We think they are all winners!

The Tiny Tot Egg Hunt was Crazy Fun and the bustling crowd of littles were quite well behaved (no falls or broken eggs were reported), but then it was supervised by 3 of the BEST. Who would misbehave with an almost 7 ft. tall man with a beard (and big smile) standing in the middle, and the RED QUEEN in the corner. After all, she did say rather loudly, in her thick and deep British accent, "AND, if any adult shall step under the yellow tape and into the Egg Hunt space, "IT SHALL BE OFF WITH YOUR HEAD", (said a little tongue in cheek). Good thing, because several moms and dads did feel it necessary to step in and help supervise their tiny one a bit, No one lost their head.

On your mark, get set, GO!

By golly, he's got it... It's all about "Eggs in the Basket"

No Easter Event would be complete without an egg hunt for both the littles and older kids.. Here there were 2, one for the 4 year-old and under group and one for the older ones. At first there was some concern about the littlest ones, some of which could barely walk let alone chase after eggs. While at first they were a little confused that there was a lot of fun happening, but not quite sure what it was all about. Amazingly, even the tinyest tot caught on rather quickly. His brother might have had something to do with that, but within 2 minutes he was holding onto egg by egg and putting them in the basket.

Looks like this fella has already had some lessons

Once again the equestrian area at the beginning of the Dog Park was in for a treat since "Celtic Valley Carriages" came, and were once again a hit.This time they brought both a unicorn-mini-pony and a larger horse to ride, (both all decked out with a unicorn). Unicorn Mini Pony was clearly the cutest thing anyone has seen in a long time, and the wagon it pulled was a great alternative for the very little and shy kids to have a wagon ride. The larger pony  brought grins of pride to its riders, some for being proud and brave enough to even get up there, others proud of showing some skills they appeared to have learned on other rides… simple things like sitting up straight, following the horse’s movement with their back and butt, and  keeping legs in a straight line from shoulders to hips, to ankles, with toes pointed up. These 2 ponies both get A+ for being kind and patient. The larger one had one moment when the trainer was riding it around the Park. It got a little skittish when approaching one of the Park bridges. But it was great to see that when the other trainer put a lead rope on him and walked alongside, his fear disappeared into thin air, the true sign of a good partnership. It was also great to see that there was a small line for the equestrian rides throughout most of the afternoon, in addition to them making a beautiful background as they trotted around the Park. And "Yes", both were given a few breaks from balancing the unicorn on their head. A few rides and next thing you know the sports of Equestrian skill are again growing in popularity in the Village.

The BEST part of an event like this is seeing the smiles and warm hearts of moms, dads, sisters, and brothers who had a wonderful break from the very hard work and stress of being a parent, and having this time to just “feel the love” and make lifelong family memories.

JROTC and Washingtonville Police Department were both there in significant numbers, ready to help when needed. Washingtonville's new gift shop, "Prizmatica", brought a table full of their most favorite items, with Ana Sloane at the helm. A huge white dog (likely a Great Pyranees) manned the table of NY Life Insurance... and the Bubble Lady, as usual brought some shrieks and children running over to check them out.

Ana Sloane of Prizmatica

Face Painting Irish Dancing by Sheahan Gormley Irish Dance Group, and this time there was a nice collection of Sand Art, a quiet activity to lessen any anxiety for children with challenges that involve the nervous system like ADHD and Autism Spectrum. The soft sand brought a nice balance between hectic crazy fun, and a nice peaceful easy-going project.

In addition to the usual favorite munchies like funnel cakes , there was OC Ice cream, some (unopened of course) bottles of whiskey from Speakeasy Motors American Whiskey, Guilty Pleasures Cheesecakes, 876 Jerk, and Baby Dahl's Catering

One especially fun new addition in the vendor area was a big van filled with very lightly worn secondhand clothing, all of which looked brand new.