Back from pre-COVID hiatus, St. Armands hosts Easter bash

By Dana Kampa
| 6:47 a.m. April 6, 2026

Emi Frydman checks out the basket of Easter eggs her family members found at the April 4 egg hunt at St. Armands Key Lutheran Church. The Easter activities, open to the public, made their return for the first time since the early 2020s through the efforts of church members.

Longboat Key
Neighbors

Hoppin' holiday fun on St. Armands Circle went on a hiatus as the Covid-19 pandemic halted many social activities. Even after restrictions lessened, organizations across the Keys had to turn their attention to rebuilding from 2024's hurricanes. St. Armands Key Lutheran Church is one of the places that was hit hardest by the storms.

Now, for the first time since the early 2020s, the church was able to bring back its community Easter egg hunt, and the April 4 event was met with enthusiasm.

Families wound their way through the footpaths of the Meditation Garden, where volunteers had diligently hidden more than 2,000 Easter eggs for the youngsters to find.

Maggie Dougherty, SAKLC church office administrator and one of the main coordinators of the Easter activities this year, said congregation members managed to stuff the several thousand eggs in less than an hour, channeling their eagerness to see the return of this event.

Seekers who successfully found the golden eggs went home with chocolate bunnies and picture books.

In addition to the main egg hunt, visitors got to partake in holiday crafts, like making colorful crowns, and met the Easter bunny.

Rev. Kenneth Blyth commended Dougherty and her family members, Minister of Music Michael Bodnyk and all the fellow SAKLC members for their work to bring the event back this year.

"It's one of the many things that stopped for Covid and never really started again," he said, adding that it sometimes takes a few coordinators going above and beyond to make these events happen for the wider community to enjoy.

Families, including the Skibickis, said they were delighted to see the Easter activities return and that they planned to make it an annual tradition from now on.

That's exactly the feedback Dougherty had hoped to hear. Even though the last Easter egg hunt happened well before she joined the church on St. Armands, she knew it was worth bringing back. Now, she said she hopes it can be a tradition locals and their visiting family members look forward to every year.

Connie DiMaggio contends with an unfortunate capsizing of her straw-propelled sailboat when competing with Karen Pashkow at Longboat Harbour Condominiums' holiday festivities on April 4, which featured the organization's first Easter egg hunt. Pashkow said the weather, attendance and all the other factors came together perfectly for the inaugural event.

Photo by Dana Kampa

Starting new traditions

Residents at Longboat Harbour Condominiums are no strangers to ringing in the holidays in style. But this marked the first year that the association held a family Easter egg hunt on April 4. Event coordinator Karen Pashkow said the outdoor event went swimmingly, with plenty of families turning out for the morning egg hunt. If anyone got too warm, they could try out some of the dozen other activities for the holiday part, from diving in the pool for gold doubloons to racing paper sailboats. Based on the positive feedback, they hope to bring the event back next year.

Leo, 2, and Blair, 3, Sobotka color in their Easter-themed paper crowns at the craft table before joining the newly returned St. Armands Key Lutheran Church Easter egg hunt on April 4.

Andres, Mey and 5-year-old Andrea Paz check out the crafts before the St. Armands Key Lutheran Church Easter egg hunt on April 4.

The Kober family — including Akriti, Mia, Bobby, Karen, Andy and Tricia — arrives early at the St. Armands Key Lutheran Church Easter festivities on April 4. Mia was a fan of the pastel balloons decorating the grounds.

The return of the Easter egg hunt took place in St. Armands Key Lutheran Church's Meditation Garden. Families said they appreciated how having 2,000 eggs hidden throughout the garden meant even younger kids had the chance to find plenty of eggs.

It took a keen eye to spot some of the Easter eggs hidden high up in trees and atop statues.

The Easter Bunny greets families making their way into the Meditation Garden for the egg hunt.

Two-year-old Davis Moore happily adds an Easter egg to his lion Easter basket.

Haruki Warriner, who was visiting Joan Nelson and other family for Easter, finds one of the golden eggs at the St. Armands Key Lutheran Church Easter egg hunt.

Mia Kober finds a golden egg hidden in the corner of the Meditation Garden at St. Armands Key Lutheran Church.

Sam Deheer, 13 months old, investigates some Easter eggs.

Beau Hopen said he had to do some searching to find his golden egg at the St. Armands Key Lutheran Church Easter egg hunt.

Brett Hopen shows Beau how to collect the Easter eggs in his basket.

Four-year-old Mateo Reyes, pictured with Catalina Reyes, is among the talented Easter egg hunters to find a golden egg and take home a chocolate bunny and picture books, along with his other Easter eggs.

Volunteers Mey Paz and Maggie, Miriam and Jamie Dougherty help bring back the St. Armands Key Lutheran Church Easter egg hunt.

St. Armands Key Lutheran Church Minister of Music Michael Bodnyk, one of the coordinators of the return of the church's Easter egg hunt this year, says hello to the Easter Bunny.

author

Dana Kampa

Dana Kampa is the Longboat Key neighbors reporter for the Observer. She first ventured into journalism in her home state of Wisconsin, going on to report community stories everywhere from the snowy mountains of Washington State to the sunny shores of the Caribbean. She has been a writer and photographer for more than a decade, covering what matters most to readers.