Ferndale, Berkley help celebrate Easter through community events

FERNDALE/BERKLEY — Easter is on the horizon and local cities are preparing to bring back annual holiday events.

Easter will take place this year on Sunday, April 5, but before then the cities of Ferndale and Berkley will hold their annual events celebrating the holiday, both on March 28.

Berkley will start early in the day with its Breakfast with the Bunny event. There will be two sessions, one that starts at 9 a.m. and the second at 10:30 a.m. It’ll be held at the Berkley Community Center, 2400 Robina Ave.

Each session for the event, co-sponsored by Berkley Parks and Recreation and the Berkley Junior Women’s Club, will feature a photo opportunity with the Easter Bunny, the aforementioned breakfast and a petting farm.

“I think it’s a great opportunity for the community to get together, have some breakfast, enjoy some small activities around the Easter holiday,” said Parks and Recreation Superintendent Dan McMinn.

Each session is broken up into three 20-minute segments between the breakfast, bunny photos and petting farm, McMinn said.

“Taking pictures of the bunny is definitely the best part of the event,” he said. “It’s fun to see what gets them to take the photo with the bunny. Sometimes we get some criers. Sometimes there’s people with huge smiles. So that’s always the best part of the event. People just having a good time being together. This is geared towards the family, so a lot of good family time is also a nice part of the event.”

The event costs $10 per person, though anyone the age of 2 or younger can enter for free.

Also taking place in Berkley will be the annual Birmingham First United Methodist Church Easter Egg Hunt from 9:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. Saturday, April 4, at Oxford Park, 2100 Bacon Ave. The hunt will begin at 10 a.m.

Ferndale Parks and Recreation will be bringing back its Eggstravaganza to three of its parks on March 28 as well.

The event will take place at three different Ferndale parks, which all will cater to specific age groups. The first egg hunt will start at 1 p.m. at the newly renovated Wilson Park, which will welcome kids up to the age of 4. The second will be at 1:30 p.m. at Geary Park, sponsored by the Ferndale Elks Lodge No. 1588, which will have two areas to cater to age groups from 1-11, as will the final egg hunt at Martin Road Park that will start at 2 p.m.

Parks and Recreation Director LaReina Wheeler said separating the kids will give everyone the opportunity to participate in their egg hunts without the younger kids having to worry about older kids, and vice versa.

“We want to make sure that there’s an opportunity for it to be more inclusive and for every age group of the kids to feel comfortable with hunting for the eggs,” she said. “We just want to make sure we cater to all the children that will be there.”

“We will have the golden eggs again this year, and with the golden eggs, if they get a ticket, then they get a prize, which would be an Easter basket.”

In the event of inclement weather, Wheeler said for the public to pay attention to their Facebook page, facebook.com/FerndaleParksandRec, for any type of announcement.