Greenfield’s Brian Evans shares story of the time he was the White House Easter Bunny in Washington D.C.
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HANCOCK COUNTY — It was a once in a lifetime opportunity that popped up a few years ago for Greenfield’s Brian Evans — who couldn’t help but jump at the chance. Evans played the Easter Bunny during the White House traditional Easter Egg Roll event in Washington D.C.
Evans, who was a United States Marine from 2013 to 2017, then went to work at the White House from 2017 to 2019, heeded the call when officials sent out emails asking for volunteers to be one of three Easter Bunnies who take part in the traditional event each spring.
“Each year, officials who organize the event they send out an email looking for volunteers for people to be the Easter Bunny and while most people don’t want to do it because D.C. is a hot swampy place, I thought it sounded like fun so I volunteered to do it,” Evans said.
And, he’s glad he did. Each Easter the experience is fresh in his mind of getting what he calls a once in a lifetime chance to take part in a traditional White House event.
“It’s one of my favorite memories from that time, and I was told by the White House historian that I wore the same bunny costume that President Reagan wore,” Evans said.
Evans, whose a bit of a historian, noted the Easter Egg Roll at the White House is a huge part of American culture as are many traditions at the White House.
“I felt fortunate to be asked to do it,” Evans said. “Anytime there is an opportunity to do something as a volunteer and make people smile and have a good time, I’m all in and that was the case with being an Easter Bunny.”
In 2018, Evans was one of three Easter Bunnies during the event and was assigned to hang out with the crowd taking pictures, dancing and making kids as well as adults laugh, with another Easter Bunny assigned to the White House lawn area. The most senior staff employee of the three volunteers got to stand next to the President of the United States.
“I had an absolute blast — I went full character,” Evans said. “I danced and sang to kids and took a ton of pictures.”
Evans noted he was having so much fun he forgot how hot it actually was being an Easter Bunny on a sunny, warm, spring day in the Nation’s capital.
“Until I worked at the White House, I had no idea how much work went into this operation of the annual Easter Egg Roll, but I can tell you it’s a really big deal from determining the color of the eggs to figuring out what songs to play,” Evans said. “It really was an absolute great time.”
Each year the White House hosts the event which attracts an estimated 40,000 people. The event began in 1878 when then-President Rutherford B. Hayes invited children to the White House lawn to roll Easter eggs after they were barred from the U.S. Capitol grounds.
“The historical importance of the event was not lost on me,” Evans said. “The annual Easter Egg Roll is a part of our American history and I’m glad I got to really be a part of it.”
Evans is one of four Republican candidates in Hancock County running to fill an open House seat as a Representative of District 53. Evans noted he’s not sure his experience of being an official White House Easter Bunny would come in handy if elected to represent the county at the state level, but he said one never knows.
