Joint Easter celebration brings families together from around JBER

  • Published
  • By Air Force Staff Sgt. Zachary Wolf
  • JBER Public Affairs
JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska --  The 2012 "Easter Eggstravaganza" took place outside the Buckner Physical Fitness Center on Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson Saturday.

This was the first time the event was held jointly.

"Last year we had one in a hangar on Elmendorf and then one at Cottonwood Park here on Fort Richardson," said Amanda Randall, 673d Force Support Squadron youth programs division youth programmer.

When a hangar wasn't available to host the event, the coordinators reached out for help.
"This was really great for Buckner (Physical Fitness Center) to come out and support us and give us a place to do this," Randall said.

The "Easter Eggstravaganza" has been going on for more than ten years.
This year, volunteers spread out 30,000 Easter eggs for the children to find.

"The kids always love to come and pick up the eggs," said Arianne Jones, an egg hunter's mother.

Not only did the event bring Army and Air Force families together, but the coordinators also hosted a joint event inside the Buckner Physical Fitness Center.

The Family Fun and Fitness Fair was hosted by the Health and Wellness Center as a way to reduce the down time between the egg hunts and as a way to help families.
"One thing we are trying to promote on this base is resiliency and (we do that by) teaching children and families the skills they need to be mentally and physically strong and how to adapt and grow in situations that could be difficult," said Rebecca Kleinschmidt, Health and Wellness Center health educator.

The fair hosted many groups like Military OneSource, the Alaska National Guard, and classes from the Arctic Oasis.

The groups set up stations where families could come and learn more about them but also to have fun with games or even face painting for the kids.

One group even had an obstacle course for the kids to run.

"We really have grown as a team, the group of people that come together to put on this event really work efficiently and effectively together and we have learned a lot through the process in preparing for this event, so it seems logical to continue, if we can get support for this again next year; we would love to do that," Kleinschmidt said.