Easter Festival today!

A furry guest made a surprise appearance in Coudersport earlier this week to promote the town's first Easter Festival, coming up on Saturday. Greeting the Easter Bunny at the courthouse square were Stan Swank and Kay Bohn from the Coudersport Area Chamber of Commerce's Merchants Association.

Coudersport's first-ever Easter Festival arrives on Saturday with a host of activities centered at the courthouse square.

Area businesses have donated items to be given away in the "Giant Easter Basket" drawing. Customers can sign up by placing their names in an Easter basket at each participating business. The winner will be selected between 3:30 and 4:00 Saturday afternoon during a drawing at the gazebo.

A craft/vendor show will set up at the square from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. A limited number of tables are still available to vendors at $10 each. Additional information on the show is available from Tammy Clancy at (814) 274- 9102.

Among the vendors already committed is the Coudersport High School baseball team. Players will be tending to a "yard sale" at the square, while talking to fans about the upcoming season.

The Easter Bunny will be roaming the town from 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Children can get their pictures taken with the furry favorite from noon to 1:00 p.m.

An egg-coloring contest will be held at 1:00 p.m. Then, at 2:00, an Easter egg hunt will be held for preschoolers through sixthgraders. Registration starts at 1:45.

There will be food vendors set up on the square, including a chicken barbecue sponsored by the Coudersport High School softball team. Music will be provided by deejay Bob "Smitty" Smith, whose collection of classic records numbers in the thousands.

The festival is a project of the Coudersport Area Chamber of Commerce and its Merchants Association.

"We've been discussing the idea of hosting an event to welcome the arrival of spring and to involve the young people," said Stan Swank, owner of Coudersport's Jubilee Foods and Easter Festival co-chair. "As long as the weather cooperates, I'm sure we are going to have an excellent turnout."