Medders Family Farm Easter egg hunt

By Noah Wortham

In celebration of the Easter holiday, an event was held on the Medders Family Farm in Montevallo on April 9. The festivities included two Easter egg hunts, food trucks and farm animals for petting.

According to Ashley Medders, the event started as a fundraiser for the Montevallo High School marching band and “It’s just grown into multiple events a year.” She explained that “They’re able to bring in between $1,500 and $2,000 out of the day, and everything that comes to the property, in terms of vendor fees and even the percentage off of our table, all gets donated back to their group.”
In 2021 the event had an attendance of around 7,000 people, when asked about whether or not they were expecting a large crowd that day, Ashley Medders explained, “We are, so I think last year was unique because a lot of events had canceled, so…the few that did they flocked to them, but I do believe that we…expect a big number of people even though there are several events around us because we do offer a free event unlike other places as well as the vendors that are here.”

Medders also explained that, as of that morning, “Right now, we have 67 registered vendors and 10 food trucks.”

One of the vendors present at the event was Sunflower Scents, a business that sells car freshies and is run by Carolinea and Sydney Selman. Sunflower Scents is a regular attendee of the Medder’s farm events. According to Carolinea, “We haven’t missed one.”

She later explained that “In fact our biggest one-day event sales that we’ve ever done was at her first spring fling event, so we love coming here, we always do good, there’s always fun stuff to see and do and good food.”

Another vendor at the event was a business named Left Lettering run by university student Noelle Barrows and her mother Krista Barrows. Noelle Barrows is a sophomore graphic design major with a minor in marketing. Her business specializes in selling apparel, stickers and art. Barrows commented on the event and explained that, “It’s been a good time. I always love this event, so I’m grateful that we can come out and hang out with everyone.”

A first-time vendor at the event was a business ran by Shelbye Reese called Beacon and Brood face painting. When asked about the event she commented that “It’s been a great day so far, good turnout.” She continued that “It seems like a great location and a lot of people from all over Shelby County so I’m excited to be here.”

An alumnus of Montevallo attended the Easter egg hunt. Ashley Davis, a mass communications and clinical mental health counseling major. She is an alumnus from 2013 and 2016. She commented on the Easter egg hunt by saying that “It was so much fun. My little one had a great time. She liked hunting eggs for the first time, she got some candy and stickers and we met up with a bunch of friends and had a good time.”

The Medder’s Family Farm held two Easter egg hunts that day, one at 10:30 a.m. and one at 2:30 p.m. There was an estimated attendance of 5,500 to 6,000 people on April 9. The Medder’s Family Farm will hold another event on Nov. 19.