Easter Egg Hunt Held on Huguenot Street

Spring is here, and what better way is there to celebrate its arrival than attending the 36th Annual Easter Egg Hunt? The well-renowned event, hosted by the New Paltz Youth Program and the New Paltz Police Department, brought families from across New Paltz to Historic Huguenot Street, where kids hunted for a whopping 5,000 Easter eggs, won tons of prizes and enjoyed bouncy houses, face-painting and other concessions.

The event was initially set to be held on Saturday, March 23 but due to inclement weather, it was rescheduled to Sunday from 12 – 3 p.m. The event was aimed at children up to 12 years old, and included an Easter Stone Scavenger Hunt that kept kids entertained during downtime, in which they searched for 100 painted and numbered Easter stones scattered throughout Huguenot Street. The Easter Stone Scavenger Hunt is usually held at Hasbrouck Park, but was moved to Historic Huguenot Street, placing both the Egg and Stone Hunts conveniently in the same area.

The free Easter Egg Hunt also included an appearance from the Easter Bunny herself, and while the rescheduling of the event unfortunately caused DJ Jay Smooth to be unable to attend and provide music, organizers were able to secure free popcorn for all attendees.

The event’s main host, the New Paltz Youth Program, is a community resource that offers educational, recreational and social opportunities for local middle school and high school students since 1989, according to their website. The Youth Program operates from their Youth Center on 220 Main St., with a plethora of events during the weekdays for students to look forward to after school. 

Their staff includes a full-time licensed social worker, mental health counselors, a certified teacher, alumni from Fordham, Utica, SUNY Dutchess, Marist and members of SUNY New Paltz’s Human Services and Psychology Department to assist with activities and supervision. The Easter event saw plenty of volunteers from the New Paltz Youth Program who kept things smooth and organized.

The New Paltz Police Department c0-hosted both the Easter Egg and Stone Hunt, was present during the duration of both events to redirect traffic around the Huguenot area, close roadways and establish a secure and sizable perimeter for participants to ensure the safety of kids and adults alike.

According to town officials, 300 – 500 kids were expected at last year’s Egg Hunt. With U.S. census data reporting 352 children between 5 – 9 years old living in the Town of New Paltz alone, this event is clearly one that is quite popular amongst children eager to celebrate the arrival of Easter by searching for thousands of Easter eggs filled with delicious goodies.

Turnout was expected to be even higher this year since both hunts were held on Historic Huguenot Street, with scavengers being able to go from searching for eggs to searching for stones whenever they liked. The Easter Scavenger Stone Hunt is a bit more meticulous than its egg counterpart, with participants needing an Easter Stone Inventory checklist to keep track of the stones they find — compared to the 5,000 eggs, finding the 100 stones presents a greater challenge.

The Easter Egg Hunt is separated into four age groups for the 1 – 12 year olds, giving each child a fair chance to find plenty of eggs filled with chocolate, stickers and other goodies without having to worry about being outperformed by other kids that might be significantly older. 

New Paltz’s Annual Easter Egg Hunt has been going strong since its beginning in 1987. It proceeded during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021, when participants were required to practice social distancing, wear masks and sign up for one of four separate sessions to prevent a crowd too large to be socially distanced from hindering the event.

No prior signup or RSVP was required for this year’s hunt, and while participants were not required to wear masks, they could still wear them if they wished. Although this year’s hunt was not the first since COVID-19 precautions were lifted, the New Paltz Youth Program and New Paltz Police Department devised methods so the Annual Easter Egg Hunt could be safely hosted during the pandemic, which shines a spotlight on this community event, and its importance to New Paltz residents. 

While the Egg Hunt and Stone Hunt are separate events, this year united the two hunts since they were at the same place and time, diverging from prior years where the Easter Scavenger Stone Hunt was usually held at Hasbrouck Park and went from dawn till dusk. The convergence at Historic Huguenot made for a long, exciting day filled with eager Easter Egg and Stone hunters exploring one of New Paltz’s most historically significant areas.

New Paltz isn’t the only place with successful Easter egg hunts. Just half an hour from New Paltz, Wappingers Falls has its own Easter Egg Hunt with 10,000 eggs up for grabs for kids up to 13-years old. 

The hunts reflect a national popularity of fun Easter activities found by a study from Forbes, which observed that 57% of Americans participate in Easter egg hunts for the holiday, with 6% of people claiming that the Easter egg hunts are the most important part of the day.

The 36th Annual Easter Egg Hunt was sponsored by ShopRite, Historic Huguenot Street, the New Paltz Office of Community Wellness and the New Paltz Fire Department and Rescue Squad. To stay up-to-date with youth and family-oriented events happening in the New Paltz community, you can check out the New Paltz Youth Program’s website newpaltzyouthprogram.org.