BY SYDNEY HOOVER
Homemade shamrocks hang in windows of houses, businesses and other buildings across Eudora as families walked or drove around Tuesday on a hunt to find as many as they could.
Almost 500 people had joined the 2020 Eudora Shamrock Hunt Facebook group as of Tuesday afternoon to share photos of their own shamrocks they had created and of their families around town participating in the hunt.
“I think it just gives people a good reason to get out and walk around,” said Michelle Topil, who started the Facebook group. “You don’t need to do it in a group. You can do it in your family so you can still stay your distance. I think everyone is really clinging to it for that reason.”
Topil saw the idea for the shamrock hunt after a friend shared a Facebook post about the idea and started the group March 15. She said she invited her friends and neighbors to participate, but didn’t anticipate it would grow as quickly as it did.
Families throughout Eudora used the hunt as an excuse to get out of their houses, walk around and get fresh air while still practicing social distancing in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. Lindsey Brock took her 8- and 5-year-old and their cousin out to drive around neighborhoods, and the children tallied how many shamrocks they found on clipboards.
“I think it’s a great way for us to still have that sense of connection and community with each other, even though we’re not able to physically connect,” Brock said.
Jennifer Akers took her children out to walk around their neighborhood looking for shamrocks. She said in a post to the group they counted 120 shamrocks in the Shadow Ridge neighborhood and found an additional 232 in Meadowlark and East Eudora.
Akers said the hunt was a way to still celebrate the holiday despite parade and event cancellations. She said her family has attended the St. Patrick’s Day parade in Lawrence since her oldest child Charlotte was born and it was sad to see it canceled this year.
“It was a way for us to get out of our house and stay at a safe distance from people and still have fun and the kids were really excited. They loved it,” Akers said. “We still got all dressed up in our gear, in our green, and we just walked around our neighborhood on foot and it was just fun to keep your eyes peeled for shamrocks in the window.”
Parents with older children were able to have fun with the hunt as well, taking time to decorate their houses for others to see. Danielle Young said she and her 16-year-old son Caleb took time to paint shamrocks in each of their front windows, a good distraction from social media and TV.
“Any normalcy you can provide to yourself and your children I think is going to be a huge benefit,” Young said. “I think it also gives parents something to do with the kids, too, because you know the more you watch the coverage and everything else and don’t distract yourself, the harder it is on you, too.”
Young said she saw people waving and honking car horns as they passed her house on their hunt.
Topil said she hopes to continue the group and do shamrock hunts in future years. She said people have also begun discussing a similar “parade of cardinals” or an Easter egg hunt to keep kids active and busy over the next several weeks.
Anyone interested in joining the group can do so here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/3017330518309940/
Reach reporter Sydney Hoover at eudoratimes@gmail.com.
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