Everyone’s invited for Easter at Simkins Park

There’s no need to hunt around for some festive fun this Easter Sunday, as the Mills family will be out at Simkins Park with their friends and neighbors for a day of celebration and they’re inviting the entire town to join in.

Easter at Simkins Park is a special occasion for the Mills family, and not just because of the holiday itself. It’s an opportunity to commemorate the lives of two of their late family members, Dan Mills and Cassandra Selbach, both of whom were dedicated to community activism.

“We continue to hold this event each year in loving memory of my sister, Cassandra and our dad, Dan,” D.J. Mills told the Pahrump Valley Times. He explained that when he and Cassandra were young, their father had regularly organized a large-scale community Easter event in Amargosa, which the siblings decided to carry on here in Pahrump.

The first Easter at Simkins Park event took place in 2008 and it has become one of the valley’s most popular holiday happenings. “At the root, we want to bring the community together for a day of fun with their families and their community to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ,” D.J. said. “We’ll have 14,000 Easter eggs including some special golden eggs, hotdogs and water, snow cones, crafts and games, face painting, worship music, and it’s free for the whole family to enjoy.”

A traditional Easter egg hunt will headline the event, with the kiddos to be separated into groups based on age. This not only makes the frenzy of finding eggs safer for all involved, it also gives the youngest of the crowd an equal chance to gather goodies, too. Age groups will be 1 year and younger, ages 2-3, ages 4-6, ages 7-9, and ages 10-plus.

“This way works so well,” D.J. remarked. “Last year, with all three of my kids — currently ages 1, 3 and 5 — it was so amazing to be able to take my time and enjoy watching the two-year-old have so much time to pick up eggs for himself. And then we have multiple launches for the babies, so we are able to watch the older ones and then after they are done, take the babies to get some pictures in the field with all the eggs.”

Easter at Simkins Park will kick off at 10:30 a.m. on Sunday, April 20. The Egg Hunt is scheduled to start at noon. Simkins Park is located at 1350 E. Simkins Rd.

Anyone interested in assisting the Mills family with preparing for the big event can contact D.J. at 775-513-8394.

Contact reporter Robin Hebrock at rhebrock@pvtimes.com