By Sam Skopp
For the 25th year in a row, Santa Monica families celebrated Peter Rabbit Day at Douglas Park off Wilshire Boulevard Saturday, April 15. The event was staffed by volunteers from Santa Monica Jaycees, a young professional’s organization, and brought dozens of children throughout the morning. There was an egg hunt, sack racing, face painting, egg decorating, gardening lessons, a frisbee toss and more.
Jaycees’ VP of Community Service, Ashley Hoskins, explained that this year’s event was attended by significantly more people than in previous years.
“We probably doubled our supplies since last year,” said Hoskins. “This is a really good turnout. Everybody knows about it. I feel everybody is pretty happy, which is exciting.”
While the event is aimed at members of the Santa Monica community, locals came out in large numbers, with a full group of kids participating in the first egg hunt of the day, just after the event began at 9 c’clock in the morning. Kids were tasked with finding as many eggs as possible in a roped-off area, full of plenty of candy-filled plastic eggs placed beforehand by Jaycee volunteers.
Face painting was similarly popular, with multiple volunteers painting kids’ faces from a continuous line of children waiting to participate.
The newest addition to the yearly celebration is volunteers teaching gardening, with plants and soil on hand for demonstrations and plants for kids to take home. In future years, Hoskins hopes to incorporate succulents into its gardening program to further teach children about plants native to the area.
“Ultimately I would love to have the succulents be a part of this because they’re a local plant,” said Hoskins.
Local law enforcement officers also participated in the event, with an informational table and a police car for kids to explore.
For more information about Santa Monica Jaycees, visit smjaycee.org.
