2,000 expected for Annual Easter Picnic on Saturday

The staff at NyE Communities Coalition and the Holiday Task Force are preparing for more than 2,000 visitors for the annual Community Easter Day Picnic at Ian Deutch Memorial Park on Saturday.

The free event is sponsored by the coalition, along with numerous community members.

Coalition Prevention and Wellness Director Kim Johnson said the entire team put in many hours working, planning and coordinating the picnic.

“A lot of work has gone into holding this event through the Holiday Task Force, which is a committee made of some very committed community members,” he said. “The Holiday Task Force is also responsible for coordinating the annual Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners as well so this is one of our three events that we put on each and every year.”

Johnson said there will be no shortage of fun activities for families and kids of all ages while enjoying free hot dogs and refreshments, including popcorn and kettle corn from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

He noted the picnic is an alcohol, tobacco and drug-free event.

“We will also have all kinds of exhibits for the kids and families to enjoy and take part in,” he said. “There will be a children’s train running along with hayrides and a bounce house. There will be plenty of games and activities, including face painting.”

Highlighting the day is the ever-popular Easter Bunny, who will oversee the beloved “egg scramble,” where kids do their best to gather as many as possible.

Several thousand were purchased for the event.

“Of course there will also be Easter eggs filled with candy for all of the children and there will be opportunities for them to collect the eggs,” he said. “This year the Easter Bunny will be there for the entire event and interact with everybody. We will also have the return of the dancing bear which is always very entertaining.”

Visitors can also expect to see solar cooking demonstrations, as more than two dozen vendors will set up shop around the park.

“We have 25 different vendors, local agencies and organizations who will be there for this event,” he said. “They will share information about their services, activities and opportunities made available to the Pahrump community. Obviously NyE Communities Coalition will have a booth there with information about everything that we do. This is an event to celebrate community and families by bringing them all together in a central location. It is also obviously, in honor of Easter.”

Additionally, Johnson said the coalition and Holiday Task Force spent several months planning and coordinating the event.

“The planning doesn’t stop when the event is over because we meet again on Monday morning and talk about how it went,” he said. “We also talked about what things we can improve upon. We have many people who are helping us sponsor this event including CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates), and the Nye County Sheriff’s Office just to name a few.”

In conjunction with the Easter picnic, Johnson said any donations of canned food of the ‘pop top’ variety would be appreciated.

“If anybody has any spare canned foods that they would like to bring along, we will certainly welcome it,” he said. “We are calling it ‘pop tops’ because they don’t require a can opener. We strive every year to make this event better and better, so people can really get the most out of it. Thousands of people usually come out for this every year because it’s a huge event and we are excited to do it.”

Ian Deutch Memorial Park is located at 1600 Honeysuckle St.

Contact reporter Selwyn Harris at sharris@pvtimes.com. On Twitter: @pvtimes