With a lineup of new activities joining some old favorites, parents will not have to say much to egg on their children to get them to hop over to Beckwith Park Saturday for the 17th annual Easter Eggstravaganza.

The event, hosted by the Greater Dowagiac Chamber of Commerce and Honor Credit Union, kicks off with games and activities at 10:30 a.m. at the downtown park, located on Front Street. Following the annual “Be a Bunny” costume contest at 11:45 a.m., the event caps off with the massive Easter egg hunt across the park lawn at noon.

Co-chairing this year’s event are Janie Reifenberg and Norma Greenman with the Dowagiac Honor branch. The credit union has sponsored the Easter-themed event for the past eight years, with employees volunteering to help run the event.

“It’s really the only activity we have that is geared around kids,” said Reifenberg, manager of the Dowagiac branch. “That’s what I like about it. It’s a really fun event to work on. All we need to worry about is pleasing the kids.”

This year the credit union plans to have an even greater presence. Not only will the entire staff of the Dowagiac branch be pitching in Saturday, but several Honor employees from the Niles, St. Joseph, Coloma and Benton Harbor branches will assist as well, with several people from the Berrien Springs branch minding the office Saturday morning, Reifenberg said.

Reifenberg, Greenman and others with the branch have been preparing for Saturday’s event since late January, the branch manager said. The largest task was preparing the eggs for the hunt, which took around 80 hours for the staff to complete.

“It takes a lot of time to stuff 5,000 eggs,” Reifenberg said.

The organizers have several activities lined up for this year’s event, the first of which is a cakewalk, where children will compete for Little Debbie snack cakes. Other games include Plinko, bean bag toss and bunny dartboard.

Volunteers will have more than 2,000 prizes for children to choose from, from yo-yos to funny glasses, Reifenberg said

“Everyone will walk away with a prize,” she said.

Several standbys of the event will return Saturday as well.

Miss Dowagiac and her court of honor will join the Easter Bunny in the park gazebo. Parents will have chance to take photos of their children posing with them.

The “Be a Bunny” costume contest also returns. The Miss Dowagiac court will judge the winners, handing out custom-made Easter egg baskets for best overall costume, most colorful and most original outfits.

Judd Lumber will also have its bounce house set up for children to enjoy.

The highlight of the event, though, will be the Easter egg hunt, open to children 2 to 10 years old. Children 2 to 6 will search for eggs around the gazebo area, while children 6 to 10 will rummage through the back lot.

The hunt usually lasts mere minutes, with the children snatching up the candy-filled trinkets in short order, Reifenberg said.

“Bring your kids and your cameras, and enjoy our downtown in a fun, safe atmosphere,” she said.