Temporarily dropping the word “Easter” in some of the promotional material for the annual Easter Egg Hunt in Roeland Park sparked a strong reaction from two city councilors Monday.
The exchange occurred during a report by events committee chair Scott Ferrel, who came under questioning from Councilor Michael Rhoades about how the change was made, asking for the “who, what, why, when and how.” Rhoades said it had been promoted as Easter Egg Hunt and then the word Easter disappeared.
Councilor Michael Poppa said he had designed the flier for the event and had left Easter off. Poppa said it “was not malicious intent.” After concerns were raised, the word was added back, he said. “It is corrected now,” Poppa said. “It will be Easter Egg Hunt going forward.”
Mayor Joel Marquardt said he had talked with Poppa at one point about the idea. Noting many cities don’t use the term Easter, he said it is about trying to make it more inclusive so everyone feels welcome. He compared it to the term “Mayor’s Tree Lighting.”
“It has created havoc,” Councilor Ryan Kellerman said. “To our shock and dismay,” it became egg hunt, Kellerman said, saying residents and council members were concerned. The change made it more exclusive, he said, because of upset residents and council members. He said it nearly generated a special called council meeting over the name change.
“I would like you to spend more time on things that matter, Ferrel responded, “instead of one word on a volunteer event that lasts approximately one hour.” Ferrel qualified he was speaking as a resident rather than committee chair. “We made the adjustment, it’s done,” he said.
At one point Kellerman said the majority of the council shared the concern, but a couple of his fellow councilors jumped in to say that did not believe that was “a fair statement.”
Poppa said he hoped the discussion did not diminish the good work of the events committee.
Rhoades made one more attempt to ask “how this happened” and who made the change. Marquardt ended the discussion, telling Rhoades he would need to make a motion to talk about it further.
