Crooked Pines Farm never shirks away from putting on an event a bit out of the ordinary, and the Easter Egg Launch and Lunch will be no exception to the rule.

Duncan and Angela Criscoe never believed they would own a farm, but when the opportunity presented itself in 2006, they decided to take a chance. Six years later, the farm is flourishing and the Criscoes have opened it to the community to create lasting family traditions and memories.

“We wanted to do something a little earlier in the Easter season to kick off the spring celebration. Almost everyone does an Easter egg hunt, and we are too, but we are also adding something a little different to our lineup. We are shooting Easter eggs into our field and I made the launcher myself. We have a water balloon sling shot and it will throw an egg 150 yards,” Duncan said.

Special prizes will be given to those who manage to shoot their Easter eggs the farthest, including prizes like jam baskets, Topsy Turvy kits to grow tomatoes upside down and a ginger bread barn kit.

“It is just like a gingerbread house that you would make for Christmas, but it is in the shape of a barn so it commemorates your time at the farm. We will also have other miscellaneous prizes to give away. We are always happy to take donations of prizes from other local contributors as well,” Criscoe said. “We also have small terrariums for kids to grow their own plants inside.”

The Easter Egg Launch and Lunch will be held at Crooked Pines Farm at 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. Saturday. Besides the launching of Easter eggs and the catered lunch, the event will also include hayrides and a petting farm full of friendly animals and a craft table for spring related crafts.  

“We are catering the lunch ourselves with freshly sliced ham, potato salad, cookies, fruit salad and a roll for $6 a plate. Between the hours of 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. we will have an Easter egg hunt for our younger patrons and they can turn in their eggs for candy and other treats,” Criscoe said.

During the Easter Egg Launch, the first egg is free and each additionally launched egg is $1. The Country Store will also be open and offer fresh jams and jellies and other Georgia-made, Georgia-grown products for sale.

“We have several different varieties of fresh canned jams and jellies, syrups and barbeque sauce, handmade aprons and assorted crafts like angels made from hymnals and other country type crafts,” Criscoe said.

There is no gate fee to attend the event and the Easter egg hunt is free as well.

The hayride and petting farm is $4 a person and crafts are available between $1 and $4 dollars.

“With any event we have at Crooked Pines, we want to create lasting family memories. We want to inspire those to get in the spirit of spring. We will have live rabbits to be available for photos with the kids, as well as other farm animals. Every event is a family event for us at Crooked Pines. I’m looking forward to seeing smiling faces and happy kids,” Criscoe said.

Crooked Pines Farm will also host a spring break camp for kids April 2 through 6. The camp is $120 per child and the camp has room for 24 kids. The Criscoes will work with the participants with farm animals and different indoor and outdoor activities to keep the children active.

“We will provide snacks and water throughout the day and we just ask that the kids bring their own lunches. We have special education majors and other school of education and school of psychology majors from Georgia College to be counselors for the camps, and we designed the camps for growing minds and working parents,” Criscoe said.

The camp begins at 8 a.m. and drop-off begins at 7:30 a.m. Children should be picked up no later than 5:30 p.m.

Crooked Pines Farm will also host six weeks of summer camps this year, as it was so popular last summer. The camps will be held for three weeks in June and three weeks in July. Registration forms and more information can be found online.

Crooked Pines Farm is located just north of Eatonton at 355 Harmony Road. For more information about the Easter Egg Launch and Lunch, the Spring Break Camp, or the upcoming summer camp sessions visit http://www.crooked

pinesfarm.com or call (706) 347-0274.