First Congregational Church of Crystal Lake hosts Easter-themed 'Eggstravaganza'

CRYSTAL LAKE – Parents watched with amusement as their children hunted for Easter eggs, pet rabbits and dyed eggs Saturday to celebrate Easter.

"The kids totally love doing stuff like this," McHenry resident Nicole Young said.

Several churches around McHenry County held special Easter-themed events this weekend, including the First Congregational Church of Crystal Lake.

The church hosted its eighth annual “Eggstravaganza” event Saturday morning.

Young attended the event with her husband, son, sisters and nephews. She watched as her nephews and 2-year-old son roamed around the yard trying to collect as many eggs as possible during an Easter egg hunt. Each egg was filled with candy or a small toy for the children.

“This is our family’s church, so we come out for this every year, and it’s just great for the kids,” Young said.

New this year was a petting zoo provided by Animal Quest Entertainment Inc. Ducks, a pig, a tortoise, a goat and, of course, some rabbits were part of the zoo.

“Every year we’re just trying to see how we can expand this event a little bit more and serve the community better,” senior pastor Eric Fistler said.

After the children got to see the animals, they then went inside the church to dye eggs, which were brightly colored green, yellow, orange, purple and pink.

While the kids were distracted by the egg dying, the plastic eggs were scattered across the lawn so children could go on an egg hunt to wrap up the event.

“It’s a service we love to do for the greater community to bring us all together and celebrate Easter,” Fistler said.

“We do it to celebrate the festival of Easter, the coming of Christ, and also just to have a fellowship time to get our church family together to welcome visitors and introduce them to our church,” associate pastor Emily Davis said.