AMENIA — Once they caught word that Easter was coming to Amenia a few weeks early, local families headed to Town Hall last Saturday, April 6, for the annual Easter Egg Hunt.
With colorful Easter baskets in hand, families started arriving around 10 a.m., locating seats in the Amenia Town Hall auditorium. As they waited for the Easter Bunny to make its appearance, the children listened to a reading of the book, “Pete the Cat: Big Easter Adventure,” via YouTube.
Wearing a pair of bunny ears for the occasion, Amenia Town Clerk Dawn Marie Klingner called for the children’s help in finding the Easter eggs “because Easter came early to Amenia.”
Next, Klingner invited everyone to stand up and dance along to an Easter song. As the music poured into the auditorium, the children bounced along to the beat and cheered when the Easter Bunny stepped onto the stage and started dancing to the music.
To kick off the annual hunt, Klingner pointed children ages 1 through 6 and their families in the direction of the stairs that would take them to the egg hunt on the second floor of Town Hall. Children ages 7 and older were invited outside for an egg hunt behind the building. Klingner assured the children they’d all have time with the Easter Bunny before they went home.
On top of thanking Amenia Councilwoman Michele Somogyi and the Amenia Recreation Commission for organizing the egg hunt, Klingner said, “The biggest applause goes to all of you parents for coming out on this snowy morning.”
While the air outside was still cool from the previous day’s surprise snow, the children didn’t falter in their hunt for candy-filled plastic eggs. Scattered all over the lawn and across the playground was a mishmash of multi-colored eggs, and children who located a golden egg were given a special prize.
On Klingner’s mark, the children took off down the hill on a wild egg hunt. Once their baskets were full, they walked back up the hill where they were encouraged to open their eggs up and collect the candy inside before placing the empty eggs into bins to be used for next year.



Dick Hermans in the Oblong Bookstore on Millerton’s Main Street in 1985.Provided



Fall storage crop harvests amid soil building cover crops at Adamah Farm in Falls Village. Janna Siller 




