Tyler Brinson
Contributor
Throughout the pandemic, our community has faced several challenges, suffered the loss of friends and family members and even faced some financial hardships. One day, I, Tyler Brinson of Tyler's Towing and Recovery, located at 633 NE Colin Kelly Hwy, was speaking with a friend of mine about doing something for the community and giving back to the children, and she mentioned an Easter egg hunt. While I was unsure the event would even be permitted, Felicia Kohler of Valdosta, took all necessary measures through the courthouse, discussing things with Tommy Garner, head of recreation, and with the sheriff’s office to get it approved. Before it was even approved, she had created flyers at our Madison Public Library, ready to distribute once the board gave the okay.
Throughout the weeks leading to the event, we spoke with several businesses in Madison. However, most of our support came from volunteers and sponsors in Valdosta. Food and drinks were donated from IGA and Stan's Meats in Valdosta. Prizes, eggs and Easter baskets were donated from both Repeat Boutiques and Living Bridges Ministry in Valdosta. While businesses in Madison such as Pic-N-Save, Dollar General, Busy Bee's Gas Station, O'Neals Restaraunt, Subway and TL Nails were happy to display our flyers, we were very appreciative of the two $25 gift cards donated from Ace Hardware on Base Street that were gifted to two lucky parents at the event.
While we did get a late start due to unfortunate events the morning of our egg hunt, once we got there and got the bounce house up and the games going, the children seemed to have an amazing time. We had an egg race and a sack race. The sack race was a huge hit while $20 cash was gifted to one winner from each age group (under 5, 6-9, 10 and up, and adults only). The winner was Raven Walker of Solar Power One. The adult race was absolutely the most hilarious moment, as everyone fell out trying to hop to the finish line, and only two were able to make it! Over 800 eggs were put out, including two golden eggs with $20 in each. We had over 400 eggs that had papers marked "Come see us at the prize table" where the children were able to pick from hundreds of items, including slime, bubbles, art sets, candy, games and so much more. Hot dogs, chips, cookies, juice and water were available, and we had plenty to go around. I am very grateful for the parents who stuck around and even helped us get the event started on arrival. Words cannot express the gratitude. My sister, Davida, was definitely a star out there for helping Felicia with the huge setup of this event. I am grateful for everyone's words of encouragement, wisdom and expressed gratitude for this event, because a lot of hard work went into it, and hopefully next year, can be even better as we know what to expect and be prepared for.
It was a beautiful day outside. I want to thank the fire department, who came out with the truck and hats for the kids, as well as the sheriff's office, who came out to greet everyone and check on crowd control, as they agreed to do from the very beginning. My vision was to indeed let the community see they have a business owner here in Madison County that enjoys what he does business-wise but absolutely loves the kids and would love to be able to do more in the community in the future. We have discussed planning a back-to-school event already, so if any businesses or individuals would like to donate or be in on that, they can call me at (850) 464-2492, or e-mail me at tylerstowingandrecovey@gmail.com.