On Friday, March 29, Lake County Parks & Rec began their first ever ‘Find Flopsy’ event at Buckley Homestead to celebrate Easter Sunday. Along with many other traditions that take place at the parks in Lake County, ‘Find Flopsy’ was the culmination of all of them. The day included families from the county in groups that went around Buckley Homestead and saw what made it so great.
“The excitement is real. This is a new program, so it is always fun to see how something new goes. It is much different than your typical egg hunt, or meet and greet. Our activities are much more interactive. I hope the kids have tons of fun,” Lake County Parks Communications & Marketing Director, Emily Trisler said.
The basic idea of the event was to find the family's missing pet bunny, Flopsy. The farm learned about Flopsy’s disappearance and needed some assistance finding him. That is where the children came along. The children all worked together to find the infamous Flopsy and get him back to his family.
The children were on a scavenger hunt to find as many blue bunnies as possible around the trail, which inevitably led them to Flopsy. Along the way, they were met by a few of the friends that belong to Homestead including goats, cows, and sheep, which they were able to feed towards the end of the scavenger hunt.
“Buckley Homestead has quite a few animal oriented activities. Usually the week before this event, we do meet the baby animals so these families can take their children out and see the babies,” Trisler said. “In May, we do sheep shearing. Our sheep get a haircut once a year and the families are able to come out and watch them get their haircut and then learn how wool is made and or how the sheep's wool is turned into usable material.”
There was an amazing turnout and the children were filled with joy throughout, especially when they reached the ultimate goal of finding Flopsy.
“We try to keep a hands-on element to most things. A farm is a museum and if you can touch history, that is going to make it a little bit more impactful,” Trisler said.
Whenever something is brand new, there is always a sense of urgency to figure it out immediately, but that was not the case today. There were a ton of families from Lake County in attendance and everyone had a smile on their face.
“We are hoping to keep this event going on Good Friday every year. Usually it lands on spring break, but even if it is not spring break, kids have school off. So far, so good. I think we will be back next year,” Trisler said.
Along with this park, there are many more that some people in the area may not know about. It is an amazing way to give children lifelong memories that can lead to stories for the rest of their lives.
“I think, in general, everyone should take advantage of the parks around them and we are here to be used and to explore. There is always something going on,” Trisler said.
For more information about parks and more in Lake County visit lakecountyparks.com/.
