Mount Airy’s annual Easter celebration will kick off the during the last week of March with the annual “Search for the Golden Egg” hunt, with merchants hoping to find some green in the process.

About 10 businesses will participate in the Easter Egg hunt, sponsored by the town in conjunction with the Mount Airy Main Street Association, from March 25-30, said Melissa Hoyle, the town’s community development coordinator.

As part of the hunt, each of the participating businesses will give customers a search card used to authorize their findings by store employees. A golden or decorated egg will be hidden in each store for contest participants to find.

The egg hunt, which has been held in the town for 11 years, has become an Easter tradition for many residents, she said.

“We’re just keeping with tradition,” she said. “A lot of the kids participate.”

The event runs through March 30.

Completed cards holders will have the opportunity to win a gift basket valued at about $200 that includes items donated by Mount Airy businesses.

Cards must be turned into the Blossom and Basket Boutique, at 3 N. Main St. or Beautiful Faces Permanent Makeup Salon, at 228 S. Main St.

Ellie Bonde, owner of the Blossom and Basket Boutique, said that she plans to hide her egg, which is decorated with a bow, in a different place in the store every day.

“It’s just fun [because] many of the things that we do [in town] are geared to adults; this is geared toward kids,” she said. “I wish that we could make it last a little longer.”

Participants can also expect to find an egg decorated to look like a train at Carroll Station Pediatrics.

Michele King, a receptionist with the doctor’s office, said that she made the egg two years ago and since then it’s become a hit.

“We just enjoy having the kids come in,” King said. “They have to find [the egg] first but they like [its decorations].”

King decided to paint the egg to look like a train engine because the doctor’s office, at 1 North Main St., is housed in what was formerly a Baltimore and Ohio Railroad station, she said.

The event helps to increase foot traffic for businesses on Main Street and promotes local shopping, Hoyle said.

“We always encourage residents to shop locally. In this economy, your dollars are always better spent when you shop local,” she said.

While the hunt does not attract as many customers as other town shopping event, such as the “Holiday Preview” or the “Shop, Sip and Stroll” event — both held during the winter months — it is a good way to welcome the spring season, Bonde said.

“It’s one of those little traditions that’s very popular because it’s very spring,” she said. “The purpose of the event is to encourage people to come inside the shops .... We hope people come in and then want to come back another time.”

myoung@gazette.net