Martinsburg resident Elexia Gorman laughs with her 11-month-old daughter, Violette Bowman, at the Shepherdstown Easter Egg Hunt on Saturday. Photo by Tabitha Johnston

SHEPHERDSTOWN — Families from throughout the region took to the streets of Shepherdstown on Saturday, to participate in the many Easter events taking place.

The Spring Parade started off the celebrations on German Street, with pets and people alike dressed in their Easter finest for passersby to admire and take pictures with.

“I hope to encourage more people to participate in the fun [here in town],” said Shepherdstown resident Carrie Blessing, who wore a monarch butterfly-themed cloak and a hat bedecked with faux monarch butterflies, in the parade. “We all can use an opportunity to relax and just enjoy — to be creative and a little spontaneous.”

After the parade ended, children then gathered together in age groups of 1-3, 4-6, 7-9, 10-12 and 13+ around the lawn of McMurran Hall, to participate in the annual Shepherdstown Easter Egg Hunt. This was the second year the hunt had been organized by Martinsburg resident Amanda Farone — a longstanding seller at the Shepherdstown Easter Market.

“I’m good friends with Michelle — we homeschool together,” Farone said of Shepherdstown resident Michelle Kwiatkowski, who previously led the event alongside the Shepherdstown Easter Market, which she still organizes. “The year before last, she said that she couldn’t continue to do the Easter egg hunt anymore — it was taking too much effort for her. So I offered to take it over. We couldn’t just let the kids not have it.”

The Easter Bunny high-fives a little girl, during the Spring Parade on German Street on Saturday. Photo by Tabitha Johnston

Last year, some participants had walked away without finding any eggs or getting any candy — a situation which Farone was determined would not be repeated. So she saved a bag of filled eggs this year, to give to any children who might be in that position. In the end, she handed that bag over to a single family, as all of the others had been able to collect eggs during the hunt.

“It bothered me, when I heard that there were kids who didn’t get candy last year,” Farone said. “So this year, I said ‘Nope!’ to that — everybody gets eggs.”

Over 3,000 eggs were collected at the event, which were made possible from donations by local residents, Shepherds Blessings LLC, the Corporation of Shepherdstown, Bistro 112 and the Shepherdstown Community Club. A group of 20 volunteers helped to prepare the eggs, hide the eggs and clean up after the hunt.

“Community help is so important, when we’re trying to put on events like this,” Farone said. “We need help to keep it going.”

After the hunt ended, the Shepherdstown Easter Market officially began in the War Memorial Building. The day-long event featured 35 sellers of handmade items, according to Kwiatkowski.

Shepherdstown residents Jacob Kline, Jillian Dover and their 10-year-old son, Luke Kline, purchase some freeze dried candy at the Frost Bitez booth in the Shepherdstown Easter Market on Saturday. Photo by Tabitha Johnston

“We’ve had good sales so far, today,” Kwiatkowski said. “We got a lot of the egg hunt traffic coming through at the beginning, which really helped with our sales. That’s one of the reasons I have always liked doing the market on the same day.”

Over at Manda’s Crafty Corner — Farone’s crochet stuffed animal business — a number of bunnies and chicks were being sold, in keeping with the market’s Easter theme. However, for Shepherdstown Elementary School kindergartener Makenna Morris, it was one of the rainbow-shelled turtles that had caught her eye.

“She got one of the little baby birds from here last year and she’s held onto it all year long. This was one of the things she wanted to take part in today — finding another companion for her baby bird,” said her mother, Tiffany Lawrence.

Lawrence’s mother was one of the original organizers of the Shepherdstown Easter Egg Hunt, making it all the more meaningful for Lawrence to share those same festivities with her own daughter. Her daughter made it clear that she thoroughly enjoys the town Easter festivities.

“I get to be with my friends and I get to find all of the eggs with them,” Morris said.

Shepherdstown resident Carrie Blessing, right, passes out treats to parade goers, during the Spring Parade on Saturday. Photo by Tabitha Johnston

A dog, dressed in his Easter finest, is walked down German Street by his owners, during the Spring Parade on Saturday. Photo by Tabitha Johnston