Hayes Easter Egg Roll celebrates 40th year on April 4

The Easter Egg Roll at the Hayes Presidential Library & Museums is celebrating its 40^th year with an afternoon of fun and games that replicate the White House Easter Egg Roll that Rutherford B. Hayes started when he was president.

The egg roll is from noon to 2 p.m. Saturday, April 4, and kids and their families can stop by any time during that time to participate. The event is geared toward kids ages 3-10, but kids of all ages are welcome.

Admission is free. Kids are asked to bring three hard-boiled, colored eggs to use in the traditional egg games, which will take place on the Hayes Home lawn. Egg games include carrying the hard-boiled eggs on a wooden spoon and tapping them across the lawn.

Other activities include a scavenger hunt, story reading, crafts and corn hole toss. The Easter Bunny will make an appearance and be available to take photos with event participants.

The Egg Roll is sponsored by Root’s Poultry and Welly’s Horseradish.

In the event of inclement weather, some of the activities, including corn hole, story time and the craft activities, will be moved into the museum.

President Hayes started the official White House Easter Egg Roll during his administration. Before that, kids played egg games on the grounds of the U.S. Capitol building on Easter Monday. Congress, however, banned the event because of the mess, so Hayes allowed it to be moved to the White House.

The Hayes Egg Roll has been a Spiegel Grove tradition since 1986.

Hayes Presidential is America’s first presidential library and the forerunner of the federal presidential library system. It is partially funded by the state of Ohio and affiliated with the Ohio History Connection. Hayes Presidential is located at Spiegel Grove on Buckland Avenue.

For information, call 419-332-2081, or visit rbhayes.org. Like Hayes Presidential on Facebook and follow on Instagram at rbhayespres and on Bluesky at rbhayespres.bsky.social.