Skip to main content

City of Falls Church ‘bunny hop’ brings Easter celebration to children in place of egg hunt

On the day when the annual Easter Egg Hunt usually brings thousands of kids to the City of Falls Church, the parks department decided instead to take Mr. and Mrs. Bunny on a trip through the city — maintaining proper social distancing, of course.

“We are taking the bunny to the streets,” said Danny Schlitt, director of the City of Falls Church Recreation and Parks Department.

Mr. and Mrs. bunny split up — just for the day — taking two different routes through the streets of Falls Church.

The city’s Easter Egg Hunt in Cherry Hill Park had to be canceled due to the coronavirus outbreak this year and Schlitt said that they wanted to find a safe way to ensure kids still got to celebrate the Easter festivities as hundreds of children go to the event each year.

“It’s a little different than what we’re used to,” Schlitt said.

“We usually invite everybody to come to us and today we’re trying to drive around town and see if we can just add a little bit a couple of smiles to little ones and big one’s faces — just to kind of lighten the load a little bit during this crazy time.”

Local police escorted the bunnies through the streets where they were greeted by welcoming waves and smiles instead of hugs this year.

“Lots of folks just kind of with a smile on their face as they’re kind of going about their day,” Schlitt said.

“We are driving around town and showing the Easter Bunny to all the little ones. There is a bunny on both sides of town, so we’re trying to cover the entire city.”

The parks department is looking into bringing more events online and changing the way things are done while the list of canceled events and traditions pile up.

“We’re trying to find new ways to make things happen,” Schlitt said.


More Coronavirus News


Va. health dept. improves nursing home inspection backlog, reforms sanction criteria for facilities

Stories of neglect in care or unsanitary living situations have plagued several of Virginia’s nursing home facilities in recent years and data backs up a lapse in oversight by state agencies.  With reform efforts underway, the Virginia Department of Health officials said they aim to adopt sanction criteria by the end of the year to rein in bad actors and get troubled facilities back on track.  As of July, 58% of Virginia’s nursing homes were overdue for inspections and 68 of Virginia’s 289 nursing homes were found to have serious deficiencies, according to ProPublica. Several of the state’s flagged facilities with numerous deficiencies also had high staffing turnover rates.  The issue has been salient among various healthcare spaces, including VDH. 
Read Next Story