Easter fun won’t end at midnight on April 9, as Turners Falls mother Christina Forde has planned another “Take One, Leave One” egg hunt for the next weekend.

The third Franklin County Community Egg Hunt is slated for noon to 4 p.m. on Saturday, April 15. Addresses are still being added to the map of participating residences and businesses that will place plastic eggs filled with goodies in a basket or hide them on their properties. Egg hunters can visit the addresses on the map and take one egg — they are encouraged to replace it with one, though that is not required. Eggs can be filled with items such as a friendly note, stickers, temporary tattoos and candy, though participants are asked to be mindful of potential allergies. The rain date is the following weekend.

“I kind of expected it to be a one-year kind of thing to try to get through the pandemic,” Forde said. “But my daughter kind of expressed that she would miss it, and I think others would, too.”

Forde came up with the idea after her then-8-year-old daughter was disappointed there would be no Valentine’s Day card exchange in school due to the COVID-19 pandemic. She initially wanted to organize a “Take One, Leave One” valentine event, but there was not much time to drum up enough interest before Feb. 14. So, Forde set her sights on Easter.

“There was quite a bit of interest after the first year,” she said, “so I started doing it again.”

Forde said she wrangled up 29 addresses (including 11 businesses) in seven towns in 2022. One of those addresses was 11 West Chestnut Hill Road in Montague, the site of Ripley Farm as well as Duckworld, a sanctuary for lost, injured and unwanted ducks from across Franklin County. Farm co-owner Janis Doyle said she opted to participate again this year because the 2022 event went so well.

“I just thought it looked like a fun kids community event,” she said.

Doyle said there will once again be a basket of plastic eggs filled with candy or little plastic toys. She mentioned about 20 children and their families visited last year.

“I give her credit for setting this up,” Doyle said of Forde.

The map of addresses can be found on the Franklin County Community Egg Hunt’s Facebook page at bit.ly/37c2RlN. There is a rain date of April 30.

Reach Domenic Poli at: dpoli@recorder.com or 413-930-4120.

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