PIQUA — Small groups of youngsters scoured here for Easter eggs over the weekend.
And heffalumps. And woozles.
While they didn’t seem to find any of the latter — even with their heffalump trap — it mattered not a whit to a small group of youngsters embarking on an egg hunt designed to celebrate, of all things, the iconic children’s book, “Winnie-The-Pooh.”
The brainchild behind the event, Piqua’s Rick Heiman, set up the course on a parcel of land he owns on the outskirts of town.
It wasn’t quite as large as Pooh’s 100 Acre Wood — it’s closer to 5 acres — but it was well sufficient to keep the youngsters, and their parents, enthralled from start to finish.
It took several weeks for Heiman to design and build the hunting spots, staying true to the scenes depicted in A.A. Milne’s original tale, revolving around Pooh, the stuffed bear and his adventures that come to life in the mind of Christopher Robin.
Heiman provided each of the youngsters a treasure map before their expedition began. For safety’s sake and a nod to the ongoing pandemic, he opened the course to only a few hunters at a time.
THIS YEAR was the latest, and by far most elaborate, course set up by Heiman, who has no children of his own but has eagerly set up Easter hunts for nearly 30 years for his nieces, nephews, their children and now grandchildren.
They started simple, then began to follow themes, the first of which was “Where in the Piqua is Carmen Sandy Egg,” Heiman noted with a chuckle.
Soon thereafter, he began thinking of popular children’s literature works, like Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Peter Pan, Harry Potter and even a Lord of the Rings expedition.
A pair of unforeseen events led to this year’s extra special labyrinth.
The first was because he had two years to think up ways to set up the course.
Heiman originally planned the hunt for last year, then had to cancel at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Then, when a ferocious wind storm toppled a large willow tree on his sister’s property, it also knocked over several panels of a privacy fence. When she decided to take down the fence altogether, Heiman took possession of the panels.
“They were just sitting in my barn,” Heiman explained. “That’s when I decided I could use them.”
AS Easter weekend drew closer, Heiman’s imagination ran wild.
The course begins, obviously, in the 100 Acre Wood, in this case a small thicket of plum trees, then makes stops at Pooh’s home (with his “Mr Sanders” sign, Christopher Robin’s home and its green door, and then follows a trail of adventure paying homage to Milne’s depiction of the adventures of Pooh, Piglet, Eeyore, Owl, Kanga, Roo and Rabbit.
