Mill Creek Beacon - Your Hometown News Source

The annual Eggstravaganza in Mill Creek is April 3, drive-through, and all precautions for COVID-19 will be taken.

The April 3 Egg Grab-n-Go begins at 10 a.m. at Heatherwood Middle School, 1419 Trillium Blvd. SE in Mill Creek, according to a news release from the city. The event is an alternative to the usual onsite, in-person hunt for Easter eggs to prevent the spread of COVID-19, the news release states.

Bags of plastic eggs pre-filled with candy are available for children 1 to 12 years old. The event is planned with staggered arrival-times to minimize crowding, the news release states. Children between the ages of 1 and 5 years old arrive 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. and children between the ages of 6 and 12 years old arrive at 11 a.m. to noon.

Bags of eggs will be distributed while supplies last. The event is sponsored by Central Market, Fred Meyer, Waste Management, Edmonds Community College, Mill Creek Chamber of Commerce, Nancy's Noah's Ark, Inc., The Goddard School and Starbucks.

Last year at this time, Easter events all over the county were cancelled after the worldwide pandemic was announced on March 11, when the World Health organization was reporting 118,000 cases globally, a count that has risen to 119,603,761 as of March 13. In Snohomish County, the count is 29,558 since Jan. 2020 and 549 deaths. As of March 12, 27 people are hospitalized with COVID-19 and four are on ventilators. In Mill Creek, 36 people have died from COVID-19 and 499 survived it, in a population of approximately 20,000.

People have donated canned food at past Easter events in Mill Creek but this year that is not part of the festivities the news release states. However, the Hope Creek Food Bank at 4326 148th St. SE in Bothell regularly accepts no-contact donations via its website.

The City requests that people remain in their cars for this event, but they are encouraged to dress up and bring an Easter basket to the event. Standard precautions apply: masks to protect from COVID-19 are required when visitors let down the window and approach the distribution point. City Staff, Mill Creek Youth Advisory Board members and volunteers (masked and wearing gloves) will be on location distributing the prepackaged eggs.