UH Manoa
Alumni News
Keiki were excited to be greeted by the Easter Bunny! Deborah Dimaya photo.
The grounds of the University of Hawaiʻi John A. Burns School of Medicine (UH JABSOM) was abuzz with sounds of spring as families and children gathered for a very special occasion – the inaugural Easter Eggstravaganza!
Laughter and excitement echoed through the campus– from a petting zoo, cookie decorating, to a treasure trove of brightly colored eggs hidden throughout the grand lawn, there was something for everyone at this one-of-a-kind event. The Easter Eggstravaganza is the first of its kind sponsored by the JABSOM Alumni Association, among several alumni events planned for this year.
Dr. Gina Fujikami (JABSOM MD 2008), geriatrician and alumni board association secretary said that the idea was to have a family friendly event for the alumni and the overall JABSOM ʻOhana while inviting people back onto the medical school’s campus.
“It’s been nice to see familiar faces today,” Fujikami said. “I hadn’t seen some of my classmates in a while that came today and may not usually be able to attend the other alumni events or don’t have time but they were able to bring their families and have fun here (JABSOM campus).”
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Fujikami, who was part of the Easter Eggstravaganza planning committee thanked all who were involved from the core planning committee, to the creative ideas from JABSOM Event Management Services, the event promotion by JABSOM Media and Communications, all the volunteers who stepped in to make sure the day went smoothly and the guest of honor, the Easter Bunny (Chang Kim, JABSOM ombudsman).
A total of 1,000 eggs were hidden across the grand lawn to accommodate the 100 keiki signed up for the event while Paniolo Parties set up a petting zoo featuring a pony, tortoise, sheep, baby goats, guinea pigs, chickens, ducks and bunnies. Meanwhile, the actual Easter Bunny went around all afternoon greeting children with high-fives and hugs. After grabbing some bags of freshly made popcorn, guests made their way into Cafe Waiola to decorate sugar cookies, snap pictures under the large balloon arch or went back outside to partake in a photo scavenger hunt.
Fujikami already heard back from several attendees who said they were grateful to have been a part of the medical school’s first Easter Eggstravaganza.
“They’re very thankful and they had a really good time. We’d love to have this again,” Fujikami said.
See the entire photo album on our Flickr: