Mystery Easter bunny
EASTER is over — but for a small North Otago primary school, the hunt for a mysterious ‘‘Easter bunny’’, who has left hundreds of dollars worth of chocolate around school grounds for the past five years, goes on.
The bunny struck again at Kakanui School before the school holidays.
More than 600 marshmallow eggs, minieggs and chocolate rabbits were left scattered around the school grounds for children to collect on the Friday morning.
Office administrator and teacher aide Amanda McGregor said a thankyou note was always sent to one or two suspects in the community, just in case it was them — but the school was no closer to uncovering who the bunny, or bunnies, were.
‘‘It’s a lovely, kindhearted person or people,’’ she said.
‘‘We are so lucky to have such an amazing loyal support of our school to share the Easter love for our children.’’
She described the event as a ‘‘magical mystery of Kakanui’’.
It was a treat to see the ‘‘delight on the children’s faces as we go and collect them all up off the field, playground and front of the classrooms’’, she said.
‘‘Then the senior students split them into a bag per child to munch over the day and take home.’’
It was someone who appeared to know school principal Ann Roughan’s routine, laying out the chocolate before she went to school, Ms McGregor said.
It had been suggested the bunny was Ms Roughan herself — but Ms McGregor, who is Ms Roughan’s daughter, said she personally doubted it.
‘‘She’s a terrible liar,’’ Ms McGregor said.
Ms McGregor said despite the suspicions of some parents, she was of the belief the bunny — or bunnies — belonged to the wider community, rather than being on the teaching staff.
The chocolate included some ‘‘good middlesized rabbits’’ and she believed it would not have come cheap, costing up to $100 a year.
An anonymous source in the community who contacted the Otago Daily Times about the chocolate appearing again denied she was the bunny.
‘‘I just think what this person is doing is brilliant and, although kept anonymous, deserves to see a bit of local appreciation for their good deed,’’ she said.