March 30, 2015 at 3:40 p.m.
Seek and enjoy: Rouman Cinema celebrates Easter a week early
Seek and enjoy: Rouman Cinema celebrates Easter a week early
The event, which was developed shortly after the cinema was built 15 years ago, includes an Easter egg hunt, movie viewings, games, prizes, face painting and a special appearance from everyone's favorite furry friend, the Easter Bunny.
While Easter egg hunts are known in many areas as a mainstay for the beginning of spring, that wasn't always the case in Rhinelander. Approximately 15 years ago, there wasn't a community hunt available to kids. Knowing how much fun he had searching out brightly decorated eggs as a kid, Rouman Cinema owner George Rouman decided to start one.
"It started a number of years ago when there was not any type of an Easter egg hunt activity. When we built this facility 15 years ago, we created a humongous lobby space so we could do a variety of events, like New Year's Eve parties, post-prom parties, all kinds of things," Rouman said.
"At the time, nobody was really doing any kind of Easter egg hunt and I remembered having an egg hunt at Hodag Park, but that was always so dependent on the weather, so you never knew what was going to happen. So I just thought, I've got a movie theater, I'm not looking to do an outdoor event or step on anybody's toes, but there wasn't anything available for the kids so I thought we'd try to create something."
The Easter egg hunt at the cinema is traditional, yet also movie-themed. There's also plenty of candy to go around, as Rouman also owns the Fun Factory Sweet Shoppe in downtown Rhinelander. It all comes together to create a fun time for area kids, though it wasn't always that easy.
"There's definitely a satisfaction in knowing that we can provide an event like this for the community. The first year that we did it, we didn't know what to expect," Rouman said.
"We had done our New Year's Eve party for a lot of years and were used to doing high-volume events, but we didn't know what to expect with the first hunt. We figured we do some games, crafts, the egg hunt, have bunny here, and I remember that first year we got slammed, absolutely slammed. I was a little nervous, to be honest, because I was afraid people wouldn't enjoy the event because there were so many people here and we weren't properly staffed for that large of a crowd. ... But it all worked out and people told us how much they enjoyed it."
In the years since, the event has evolved. Now, the hunt is hitting its stride.
"From that first year, we learned moving forward," Rouman said. "Every year we learn a little bit more and then a little bit more and we're really getting into a groove now."
That groove was easily seen in the smiling faces of the kids and their families.
"Oh, it's just wonderful," Susan Kozowitz said. "There's so much to do here. It's not just going to find some eggs and heading home. The kids get to hunt for eggs, play some games, watch a movie, visit the Easter Bunny, it's really great. They love it. And it's great practice for the hunt next week."
Besides the amount of fun offered, the timing of the event makes parents happy as well.
"It's nice to be able to do this a week early so it's not like different Easter egg hunts competing with each other. The kids can go to them all and enjoy themselves and hunt for eggs with their friends," Jackie Palmer said. "And this year, wow, what a great way to bookend spring break. They get to have fun here, then enjoy their break, then have Easter before going back to school. It's wonderful and they have so much fun here. Where else can you meet the Easter Bunny, hunt for eggs and then watch a movie on the big, big screen?"
Those happy faces are why Rouman continues to hold the event.
"I am very thankful to the community supporting this as well as it has," he said. "My family and my company, we've been in business in Rhinelander since 1921, and it's because of stuff like this. We try to identify value-added events or ways that we can do things to work with the community. We're a small town, a small community, so it's important to me that people enjoy it and have fun."
Marcus Nesemann may be reached at [email protected].
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