Easter bunnies are popular at the many Easter Egg Hunts around Ottawa County, including Port Clinton, Marblehead and Oak Harbor on Saturday, April 1. With baskets ready, Marblehead boys and girls enjoyed great weather for the 2022 visit from the Easter Bunny at James Park. (Photo by D’Arcy Patrick Egan)

Here is a listing of Easter egg hunts that will be held around Ottawa County, and a few beyond. With so many families hosting an Easter Dinner, which is Sunday, April 9 this year, the majority of the Easter Egg Hunts are held a week earlier on Saturday, April 1.

Plastic eggs filled with candy and other prizes have generally replaced real hen’s eggs for the events. Many communities enjoy the opportunity to have special prizes for the boys and girls.

Easter is a harbinger of spring, as well, and Ottawa County communities have enjoyed wonderful weather for most of the Easter Egg Hunts.

Saturday, April 1

Port Clinton Easter Egg Hunt, 10 a.m.
Lakeview Park
1100 E. Perry St., Port Clinton

Annual Easter egg & Candy Hunt, 2-4 p.m.
Oak Harbor Area Chamber of Commerce
Log Cabin – Adolphus Kraemer Park
161 West Water St., Oak Harbor

Lions Club Easter Egg Hunt, noon
715 Prairie St., Marblehead

Genoa Easter Egg Hunt, 11 a.m.
Country Lane Tree Farm
3525 Bolander Rd., Genoa

Saturday, April 8

Elmore Easter Egg Hunt, 10:30-2 p.m.
Schedel Arboretum & Gardens
19255 W Portage River South Rd., Elmore

Easter Egg Roll – noon-2 p.m.
Rutherford B. Hayes Museum
Spiegel Grove, Fremont

Monday. April 10

Easter Egg Roll
White House
Washington D.C.
Lottery closed

The popularity of East Egg Hunts can be credited to Ohio’s own, President President Rutherford B. Hayes in the 1870s. Capitol Hill had become a popular spot for children to roll eggs – and themselves – down the White House grassy hill on Easter Monday. It became so popular that in 1876, Congress passed a law forbidding the Capitol grounds to be used and abused as a children’s playground.

In 1878, President Hayes issued an order that children could come to the White House to roll their Easter Eggs. The tradition has been carried on since, and has grown into the major event in communities all across the land. That includes Spiegel Grove at the Hayes Museum in Fremont.