Hundreds of Easter eggs were spread along a path in German Park for the Easter Bunny Hop, Saturday morning. The event was held by the Park and Recreation Department with volunteer support from Students Performing on Tough Situations (SPOTS).

NEW ULM — It was a near-perfect Easter weekend weather-wise.

The sun was out without a cloud in the sky on Saturday and Sunday with only a light breeze. Many New Ulm residents said it was one of the nicest Easter weekends they could remember in recent years.

The best example of the favorable weather was the annual Park and Recreation Easter Egg hunt held in German Park Saturday. German Park is traditionally the location of Park and Rec’s Easter egg event, but often it is relocated to the Civic Center due to rain or snow. The event was in German Park in 2019, but no egg hunt was held in 2020 due to concerns of the pandemic. The return to German Park was a return to normalcy.

The Easter egg hunt was changed to accommodate social distancing.

Recreation Program Supervisor Liz Malloy said the hop was a more controlled event than the traditional hunt, but it was an improvement from last year when mass social gatherings were canceled.

Instead of a hunt, children took part in an Easter Bunny hop. Kids entered German Park on the north side and travelled down a path to collect eggs and meet some furry friends including the Cat in The Hat, Tigger and the Easter Bunny.

The Easter Bunny greeted all the children at the end of the path and was available for photos. All the kids participating in the hop received a goodie-bag donated by the Optimist Club.

The Easter Bunny hop was well attended by families. Many were excited to have a kid’s Easter activity this year.

Adults were able to get into the season too. The annual Spring Fling Craft & Vendor Show was held at the Best Western. The New Ulm Craft and Vendor Events (NUCVE) group holds several craft shows throughout the year, but the Spring Fling is an annual tradition. It was also canceled last year due to the pandemic. A return of the craft fair meant the world to many of the vendors.

“It has been so fun,” organizer James Haviland said. The event brought in many shoppers early in the day. The Easter Bunny also attended the craft show to meet kids.

This year’s craft show had 12 vendors selling a variety of items from masks and blankets to jewelry and candy.

Froggy’s Cotton Candy Bar was one of the busiest vendors. Robin Seger of Le Sueur made gourmet cotton candy with a variety of flavors. Seger has a new shop in Le Sueur and was recently named best gourmet sweet shop in the midwest by LUXlife magazine.

Seger uses hard candy to create unique cotton candy flavors. She has 125 flavors at her shop, but to prevent shoppers from being overwhelmed with options, she brought a dozen to the craft event. Blue raspberry, birthday cake and bubblegum are her top-selling flavors.

Vendor Heather Ellanson praised the weather for a strong turnout. Sales do improve when it is not cold and rainy.

Returning vendors like Katie Hopp of Joy & Grace custom were also pleased with the turnout. “I thought the nice weather would keep people away, but they are venturing out,” she said.

Many of the visitors to the craft show were excited about its return after last year. In general, many were delighted the 2021 Easter holiday was relatively normal.

For some, that meant a return to Easter church services. Hopp said her family was having a fairly normal Easter, but that meant attending church in person, which they unable to do last year. Normal was abnormal this year.