12 UCW APRIL 10-16, 2019
WWW.UPANDCOMINGWEEKLY.COM
With Easter just around the corner, an Easter
egg hunt is a great way to have a fun and entertain
the family. Festival Park is home to an epic annual
event that includes thousands of eggs and much
more. Epicenter Church presents Hop in the Park
Friday, April 19, from 6-10 p.m. in Festival Park.
"Several years ago, we had a dream to do some-
thing for our community around Easter, and we
know a lot of churches did Easter egg hunts. We
did not want to do a typical Easter egg hunt," said
Mark Knight, lead pastor at Epicenter Church. "We
had an idea to do something called Operation Egg
Drop, where we were going to have a helicopter fly
over a field and drop over 1,000 eggs — but some-
one from the city did not like that idea."
at didn't slow down the planning committee,
though. Knight added that they planned for the
next year and decided to do Hop in the Park. Origi-
nally, they planned to have 5,000 people in atten-
dance. irteen thousand people showed up.
Since then, the event has grown every year. ere
have been as many as 30,000 people in attendance.
Now, it's so much more than an egg hunt.
Hop in the Park is a family-friendly festi-
val filled with wholesome activities and
entertainment, including a skydiving Easter
Bunny, egg hunts by age, huge inflatables,
carnival rides, a movie in the park, live mu-
sic, vendors, games, bouncy houses, food
and much more.
"is event is a way for our church to
follow one of the mantras we have, which
is 'save people, serve people,'" said Knight.
"at represents victory for people who call
themselves Christ followers, and that's why
we do it. e kids can come out to play, and
we will have free food, cotton candy, hot
dogs, pizza and drinks."
Knight added they want to be known as a
church that gives things away, which is why
this event is free.
"is is something that we want to do to
celebrate with our community. We want to
show them there's love in our community. ... We
invite everyone to come out and enjoy this event."
e event is free and open to the public. To regis-
ter, visit www.hopinthepark.com.
Hop in the Park a celebration for all ages
by DR. SHANESSA FENNER
EVENT
DR. SHANESSA FENNER, Prin-
cipal, WT Brown Elementary School.
COMMENTS? Editor@upandcomin-
gweekly.com. 910-484-6200.
