Conversation With: Amy Huebner

Amy Huebner’s life has a running theme of taking chances and hoping things will just work out. That includes her decision to leave her employer of 18 years to work for a startup company and her willingness to lead one of Bayside Community Church’s signature events.

The 43-year-old Alabama native, who doubles as a volunteer at Bayside’s east campus and works full time for a health care business, spearheaded Bayside’s Eggolution event March 28.

Before children hunted 40,000 Easter eggs, Huebner hunted for ways to make the 12-year event run smoothly.
Huebner coordinated  activities, vendors and volunteers at each of Bayside’s four campuses.

Most things I’ve done have been because of faith. When I was asked to head Eggolution this year, I knew it was a huge undertaking, but I went with it. I knew I’d have the help I needed; I just needed to stay organized.

There wasn’t really an official date that I decided to volunteer at Bayside; it just happened. After attending Bayside and hearing about mission trips, my husband and I felt we needed to go on a mission trip. We went with a small group to Lima, Peru five years ago, and spent time in orphanages there. From then on, we’ve been more involved.

I got involved with events, such as Eggolution, because Bayside touches lives with these events and our services. We create a real family environment. We didn’t want parents to just stand around while their children jumped in bounce houses.

I’m not sure where the Easter Bunny lives. I guess I would say in his Easter Bunny house.

Easter egg hunts aren’t just a few hours for children to grab as many eggs as they can. We’re creating a family environment here.

Jelly beans and chocolate are the most popular candies. Children like to be able to shake the eggs and hear rattling inside.

We planned for 3,000 to 4,000 kids, and we were amazed by the turnout. I’m not sure how many people came, but I was blown away. I kept saying if we moved the event to the east campus that people would show up. But I didn’t expect this amount of people, and it never ended until the very end of the event.

I think we pulled it off. This was the first year Bayside had enough space and parking to offer the event. Eggolution was even more special this year because we were able to host it here.

We’re continuing to grow. Bayside kept getting calls from other groups that said they wanted to be involved with the event. I think Eggolution is going to become more and more popular. Friday, we’ll meet to discuss how we can make it better next year.
It doesn’t take an army to hide the eggs. It takes 10 to 15 volunteers to hide 40,000 eggs in 30 minutes. And all those eggs were gone in a matter of minutes.

My favorite Easter memory was dying eggs at my grandmother’s house in Alabama with my two sisters. When we were children, my grandma would spray paint a large plastic egg and would put cash in it. She’d hide it in her backyard, and we’d race out to look for it. I found it a few times before my sisters did.

Cadbury eggs are my favorite Easter candy.

Inside the church could be a great place to hide eggs. There would be so many possibilities, but because of the open format of the fields we used, there wasn’t much of a hunt for them to find the eggs, it was more about collecting eggs as fast as you can. The children love it.