Coun. Wegener working hard to ‘insure’ a great Easter Egg Hunt

Written By MARNI WALSH

As promised, the Easter Bunny will arrive in Shelburne for the annual Easter Egg Hunt on April 20th. However, rules around insurance for special events in Shelburne have made organizing the event more challenging for Councillor Lindsay Wegener this year. Vendors and entertainers are required by the Town of Shelburne to carry 2 million dollars in liabilty insurance and the Councillor is working hard to ensure a great event inspite of the resulting changes to the event's agenda.

Councillor Wegener told the Free Press, the Town has always required two million dollar liability insurance for entertainers and vendors at events. Ms. Wegener says, “This is a standard which should have always be followed for all events held in town and on town property. We are now tasked with implementing this policy as the Special Events Committee.”

The Councillor, who has been involved in organizing the Easter Hunt for several years, says, “A formal special events policy is currently being developed by Town staff for the consideration of Council at a future meeting. Staff are reviewing the special events policies of many other municipalities. There is no by-law (yet) but one will be in place with a special events policy.”

She says, “The Town and our staff have an obligation to manage risk and protect the municipality from liability. In many cases, there can be unpredictable exposure to liability issues at special events beyond the Town's control - which is one of the reasons why insurance is required.”

Despite the setbacks, that resulted in the cancellation of some vendors and entertainment who did not have insurance, the annual Easter event will take place on April 20th starting at 12 noon with lots of fun for the whole family. The chocolate egg hunt itself, runs from 2pm until approximately 2:30 pm. There will be kids' craft activities running while supplies last; a Taekwondo demo by Shelburne BW; and, weather permitting, activites such as skipping, hoola hoop and chalk-on-the-walk art. 

Vendors scheduled to have booths at the event include personalized Gifts by Valerie, “Come get a stuffie personalized for Easter with your child's name or birth stats or anything unique you can think of done on the spot,” says Lindsay. “Meet your local real estate agent amber Borger; visit Epicure spices and recipes; have your speed recorded playing ‘fastest pitch' with the Jr Schooners; and check out the CDRC summer camps info-booth.” 

In addition, there will be brand new baby chicks for viewing along with the main attraction - the Easter Bunny himself - bigger than life as always. Don't miss this annual family event taking place at the Centre Dufferin Recreation Complex in Shelburne, on April 20th, starting at 12 noon.