ROCKPORT – The Easter Bunny was a busy fellow on Saturday, March 24, at the Penobscot Bay YMCA at 116 Union St. in Rockport. More than 100 families flocked to the facility for breakfast, activities, rock climbing, to get their picture taken with the Easter Bunny and go on an Easter egg hunt.

I took the opportunity to speak with the Y’s newly appointed president and CEO Melissa Bellew. She replaced Troy Curtis who had served as head of the Y for 14 years. Bellew moved to the Midcoast from upstate New York.

“I was overseeing multiple branches for about five years,” she said. “I’m retired as a public defender in Kentucky, so I have a long legal background and the YMCA speaks to my heart.”

Bellew said the Midcoast was a draw for many reasons, but in the end, it was the passion and spirit of the community.

“I had a group of volunteers from this YMCA led by Jill Delano, our chief volunteer officer, and they interviewed me for several months,” she said. “That team expressed how much they loved the community and wanted to take this YMCA into the next decade. With a group of volunteers like that sharing the passion and love for this area is remarkable. You don’t get that often.”

The YMCA offers a wide range of activities for adults, but one of its primary focuses is children. The YMCA opened its doors to families and children on Saturday with endless activities and access to all the facilities.

“Childcare is a huge part of our world,” Bellew said. “We offer before- and after-care around the school day. We also offer early learning where we have children for about six weeks of age up until they start school. We have a variety of children’s camps and we offer all the traditional activities that you might think of when you think of the Y.”

Bellew said the Easter Egg hunt is an annual event. It’s nondenominational and everyone is welcome.

“The goal here is to promote activities that families can do together,” she said. “Often we have classes for children and classes for adults. To merge those two and actually have a class for everyone, as a family unit to come in, is something we try to focus on.”

The Easter Egg hunt was held inside, given the snow pack, which hindered the hiding of eggs. The early learning center was broken down into rooms for different age groups.

Bellew said the Y has an extraordinary child care team, which had been planning the event for months.