Sunny but cool conditions greeted the throngs of people who turned out for the annual Easter Egg Hunt this morning (Sunday) hosted by the Living Springs Christian Fellowship at East Lake Park in Airdrie.  

 

Kids in toques and mitts with parents in tow, lined up for bouncy castles, the Butterfield Acres petting corral, a magic show in the Bert Church Theatre, and, of course, the easter egg hunt that featured enough chocolate to make Willy Wonka envious.

The Lead Pastor of Living Springs Christian Fellowship Doug Phaneuf says the reason they've put this event on for ten years now is because Easter is a great reason to have a party.

"We put it on because we just want to throw a party for the community as we celebrate Jesus' resurrection from the dead, which is what Easter is all about.  We thought, let's just not have a celebration as a church but let's have a celebration and invite the whole city to it."

Phaneuf says usually the egg hunt attracts between 4,000 and 5,000 Airdronians.  Even though this morning was cool, he expected the same number this year.  "This looks like a good turnout so far and there'll continue to be people streaming in for a long time.  Having done parking in previous years I can tell you people will be arriving until almost 11:00."

The community loves the event and is grateful to the church for putting it on.  "A lot of people are very thankful that we do it and just really appreciate it and love the fact that as a church we care enough to actually do something to host a party for the city.  People have been very appreciative of it. Sometimes people try to pay us for it, but we say 'we don't want money, this is our gift to the city'."

Here's a look at some pictures of people having a wonderful time this morning.