Publisher’s Perspective

Chad Koenen

If riding a bull is the most exciting 8 seconds in sports—Easter egg hunts could be the most exciting 5 minutes of the spring. 

On Saturday, Dani, the girls and I attended three different Easter egg hunts in the area for the newspaper. It’s our annual Saturday of Easter tradition and one that we keep marked down on our calendar each year. The egg hunts are a fun way to kick off the busy weekend, while also touching base with some people on a nice spring morning. Well, you can cross off the latter part of that statement this year as we were greeted with cold weather, snow and a wind that reminded me of Christmas and not Easter.

What I always find entertaining during the egg hunts is listening to the parents talk to their children about how they should get the most eggs in their basket as possible. Some parents tell their children to run to the opposite side of the field, while others tell them to be ruthless and take no prisoners as they criss cross a playground in search of colorful Easter eggs.

After hearing the strategies given to children and grand children at a number of the different Easter egg hunts in the area, I truly want to know whether you should get the eggs closest to you, or run to the opposite side of the field and work your way back.

To see the smiles on the children’s faces as they walk back to the starting line with a bucket full of plastic eggs and endless wonders inside you can’t help but smile yourself. It takes a lot of time and work to fill all of the Easter eggs so even though the event itself is over in the blink of an eye, the work going into the event starts weeks in advance. We do appreciate all of the work of the volunteers who make these events possible. 

Now, even though I like watching the egg hunts each Easter I do have one idea I would like to see in the future—extreme adult Easter egg hunting. 

I’m serious about this, have you ever wanted to see an adult act like a child? Throw a bunch of plastic Easter eggs in the middle of a yard and watch the chaos ensue. I’m sure it would be made for TV and could even make for a new reality show where seven strangers stab each other in the back each week to see who could get the most candy in their bags before all of the eggs were found. It could be like the show Survivor, but without all of the insect consumption. 

There would be shoving, teamwork and even some name calling as the parents act like children in search for those special eggs. It would be a blast to see and I think even the kids would enjoy watching their parents let loose for a little bit. While I enjoy the egg hunts for our kids, I always feel a little guilty when I eat their “good” candy from the candy jar on our counter. If adults had their own egg hunt we wouldn’t feel quite so bad when we open up a bite size Snickers we cracked open in an egg.

In addition to finding some candy, RetailMeNot recently released the top Easter candy for 2022. 

The survey found that Reese’s mini peanut butter eggs were the top choice with 35 percent of people stating it was their favorite Easter candy. Cadbury eggs came in second place at 21 percent, while chocolate bunnies were in third with 19 percent, Jellybeans were fourth at 13 percent and Peeps were in last place at just 9 percent.

While I love Reese’s mini peanut butter eggs I am a bit disappointed in Peeps being in last place. There is nothing better each Easter than opening a sleeve of Peeps and shoving them in your mouth one right after another. 

The only possible explanation I can come up with for Peeps being so far down on the list was that those who were surveyed simply forgot how good Peeps are for Easter. A bit of word of advice though, even though Peeps are made of marshmallow, they taste terrible on a smore. 

Reporter

I also wanted to put a small plug in here that the Frazee-Vergas Forum is seeking a part-time reporter to add to its staff. We are looking for someone for 20 hours a week to write feature stories, cover a few meetings and just enhance our news coverage in the Becker and Otter Tail County region.

While we are hoping to find someone with some writing experience, we will train the right candidate to fill the position. 

If you want more information, or to apply, contact Chad Koenen at (218) 548-5585 or by email at chad@henningadvocate.com