EASTER EGG HUNT BENEFITS GROUPS

Kids have fun, families learn at railroad museum

Kids scavenged for eggs on the ground outside the Painesville Railroad Museum March 31 in a firsttime event raising money for two organizations.

The Easter egg hunt and pancake breakfast was put on by the museum and the Lake County Juvenile Diabetes Walk Family with proceeds from the event split between the two.

Trains rumbled by the depot as kids—and even cats—took pictures with the Easter Bunny, waiting anxiously for the Easter egg hunt to begin.

For the museum, the event was a chance to show itself off to first-time guests and those who have not visited in several years.

Tom Pescha of the Painesville Railroad Museum said there’s a lot of history in the train depot at 475 Railroad Street. Soldiers said their goodbyes from the depot as they headed off to fight in World War I. During World War II it was a canteen for traveling soldiers.

Passenger service at the depot was available until 1971 and was then used as a Greyhound Bus station for 17 years. The Western Reserve Railroad Association purchased the depot in 1997 in an effort to preserve the landmark.

The railroad museum

"You don’t know where you’re going if you don’t know where you’ve been." — Tom Pescha of the Painesville Railroad Museum

has ramped up restoration

efforts over the past three years. Renovations have included work on the floor and the ceiling, the addition of ADA-complaint restrooms and the purchase of new chandeliers.

The Lake County Juvenile Diabetes Walk Family was formed in 2009. Executive President Terry Mowery said the organization helps families cover the cost of medications, which he said are “out of this world.” The organization also helps educate the public about diabetes.

According to its website the organization raised

more than $20,000 last year and has a goal of raising $25,000 this year.

The organizations picked March 31 to ensure the event didn’t interfere with the city’s Easter egg hunt. Mowery and Pescha said they felt the first-year event was off to a successful start.

For Pescha, the bottom line is the event welcomed people through the museum to expose them to some history they might not have otherwise known.

“You don’t know where you’re going if you don’t know where you’ve been,” he said.

ANDREW CASS — THE NEWS-HERALD The Painesville Railroad Musuem and the Lake County Juvenile Diabetes Walk Family joined together to host an Easter egg hunt at the museum March 31.

ANDREW CASS — THE NEWS-HERALD Kids search near the caboose at the Painesville Railroad Museum for Easter eggs.