Kids Scramble for Eggs at Spring Jubilee

Mackle Park hosted a big kids’ party Saturday morning – not a party for big kids, but a big party for little kids. The Spring Jubilee drew a throng of children and their parents, mostly from Marco Island but also from all over the country and the world, many of them out-of-town families visiting local grandparents.

This year, the Parks and Recreation Department tried something new. Instead of the last several years, which saw kids visiting age-based stations and picking up a tightly rationed and specific number of the thousands of plastic eggs on hand for the day, it was a little closer to the free-for-all that used to ensue when hundreds of children raced to stuff as many eggs into their baskets as fast as they could. This year, though, the eggs were around the lake, placed by volunteers from a collection of plastic tubs.

“We wanted to change it up a little bit,” said Samantha Malloy, manager of parks, culture, and recreation for the City of Marco Island. “We wanted the kids to have a chance to hunt.”

So when their group was called, the children took off running, sometimes with parents trailing behind, and headed around the lake. The staff did make it clear there were no eggs to be found at the water’s edge. They also divulged that among the many brightly colored plastic eggs were a certain number of “golden” eggs containing a special prize. Malloy confided that many of these were certificates for free ice cream donated by Sweet Annie’s.

The “scramble” for eggs was far from the only game in town. Volunteers from the Kiwanis, the Marco Island Academy Key Club, the Optimists, and athletic squads, including senior softball, pickleball, and bocce, manned stations with an assortment of games and activities.

Donna Dubey and Cindy Crane were among the Kiwanis helping little ones with egg decorating, and Scarlett Jauregni of the MIA Key Club applied a succession of temporary Easter-themed tattoos to young faces and wrists. Key Club member Anthony Higuera ran a “match game” under the airnasium.

A balloon artist twisted brightly colored balloons into creatures such as cute pink dogs, much to the delight of kids such as Nora Barker, nine, visiting the grandparents in Fiddler’s Creek with her parents. The Optimist Club booth offered food for purchase, with hot dogs, chips, candy, drinks, and Sno-Cones. An Easter bunny circulated for parents to grab a shot with their children.

If they wanted a more professional shot, they went inside to get their photo with the Easter Bunny and then printed on the spot. This was the only activity that came with a price tag, although the five-dollar charge didn’t seem to deter anyone. A backlog of photo sessions with photographer Betsy Sabbides necessitated periodic announcements of the progress and which ticket numbers were getting close.

“Thanks to all our volunteers,” said Malloy as she circulated around the park with her bullhorn, keeping an eye on things. “We couldn’t pull this off without their help.”

With all the focus on Easter eggs, you do have to wonder why the bunny gets all the attention. Maybe we should be celebrating the Easter chicken!