Te Puke celebration: Easter easels and bike trail with prizes

(From left): John Dale, Graeme Mortlock of Te Puke Menz Shed, Epic Te Puke marketing manager Rebecca Larsen and Te Puke Menz Shed president Mike Harman with an egg and easel made for Te Puke’s Easter celebration. Photo / Stuart Whitaker

Ten giant eggs, bikes and the Easter bunny - how many more reasons do you need to stick around Te Puke this Easter?

Epic Te Puke is behind a new event - a departure from the Easter trail of recent years - combining a hunt for easy-to-find eggs with a bike ride around Te Ara Kahikatea Pathway to create Eggs on Easels - an Easter Bike Trail.

Nine colourful eggs will be mounted on artists’ easels and are being produced by groups and individuals.

On April 8, nine of them will be placed at different points around the pathway. The tenth egg will sit in Jubilee Park.

“It will be set up on the day with paints and we’re looking for, in Jackson Pollock-style, the community to contribute,” says Epic Te Puke marketing manager Rebecca Larsen.

Each egg will feature a QR code - scan them all and you are in to win a bike or one of several other prizes.

“Jubilee Park will be where all the action is, with people turning up from nine.”

There will be pony rides, small animals, face painting, roaming actors, and the Easter bunny will be at the park.

My Ride Te Puke will be offering bike safety checks.

“People can turn up, even if they don’t have a bike - they can still participate by walking the trail.”

Registration is needed to be in to win - that can be done beforehand on the Te Puke Online website or on the day.

“[The eggs] are not going to be difficult to find, they will just be around the trail.”

There are two bikes to be won from My Ride Te Puke and a selection of other prizes donated by local businesses.

“Each one of those businesses that is donating a prize is sponsoring the artists on the trail,” says Rebecca.

Prize-giving will be at 12.30pm.

After the event, most of the painted boards will be auctioned on Trade Me.

“Some of them are fundraising groups, so we are going to see what we can do online to get them the best possible outcome for what they are fundraising for.”

The community-created artwork will be auctioned to raise money for the Red Cross Cyclone Gabrielle relief fund.

Resene has provided the paints, and the easels were made by members of Te Puke Menz Shed.

Rebecca says she would be happy to receive offers of help from anyone happy to volunteer. She can be contacted via the Te Puke Online website.