Heather Kern, the visionary who encouraged thousands of Long Beach residents to don their finest pajamas for the 2025 Belmont Shore Christmas Parade, has come up with an equally interesting idea for Easter.<\/p>\n
She wants everyone to wear inflatable bunny suits and run along the beach.<\/p>\n
Kern, the executive director of the Belmont Shore Business Association, is also the brain behind \u201cTour the Shore,\u201d the walking group that explores a different point of interest each Saturday.<\/p>\n
When I asked Kern what her inspiration was for blow-up bunny suits to celebrate Easter, she told me about the Richmond T. Rex Run \u2014 otherwise known as the Jurassic Jog \u2014 held annually in Virginia.<\/p>\n
That event features participants in inflatable T. Rex suits to run, walk, or waddle around the course. Kern, she said, read about that event, and immediately thought about how to create something equally as silly in Belmont Shore.<\/p>\n
And so, this year\u2019s Bunnies on the Bay Run was born.<\/p>\n
The fun run is planned for Saturday, April 4, at 10 a.m., and will feature plenty of folks in inflatable Easter Bunny costumes. The route is from the beach to the bridge. Inflatable costumes are highly encouraged and no registration is required.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe really want to see the inflatables come out for this,\u201d said Kern, \u201cBut whether you\u2019re in a full costume or just bunny ears, it\u2019s all about showing up and having fun together.\u201d<\/p>\n
The starting line is at 5300 E. Ocean at the Claremont Boat Launch at the pedestrian beach path, and the race will finish at\u00a0 Bay Shore Avenue and Second Street.<\/p>\n
Local real estate agent Loree Scarborough has already purchased a couple of the plastic suits and plans to embellish them a bit prior to the run. Scarborough is also planning on having a dress rehearsal this week, where she plans to lead an old fashioned \u201cBunny Hop\u201d with playful\u00a0hops\u00a0and\u00a0kicks along the waterline.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvents like this are why we love our Belmont Shore community and why our area is one of the most sought after neighborhoods in the nation,\u201d Scarborough said.<\/p>\n
Participants should be prepared for a sandy route, and are encouraged to\u00a0wear appropriate footwear.<\/p>\n
While Belmont Shore shopkeepers and residents are hopping along the beach in bunny suits, the folks in Bixby Knolls are preparing for their third annual Long Beach County Fair during First Fridays, April 3.<\/p>\n
This year\u2019s County Fair event will feature an \u201cevening of food, culture, and community,\u201d inside the Katie Phillips Gallery at the Expo Arts Center, 4321 Atlantic Ave., according to the event website.<\/p>\n
The fair will also include a flower crown and plant sale by Sowing Seeds of Change\u2019s Urban Farm, an Urban Growers Blue Ribbon Competition, an art show, and more.<\/p>\n
Former Grunion Gazette Executive Editor and current \u201cPinch of Salt\u201d Columnist Harry Saltzgaver will also be on deck at the event for a signing of his most recent book, \u201cNo Walk in the Park: Newspapers, Booze and God.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are also in the lab working on our summer parking lot concerts, waiting for a few new businesses to open up,\u201d said Bixby Knolls Business Improvement Association executive director Blair Cohn, \u201cand then when we get our state grant funds, we will begin lots of fa\u00e7ade improvements and streetscape enhancements.\u201d<\/p>\n
For additional details about the Long Beach County Fair, visit shorturl.at\/tu5lp.<\/p>\n
Mayoral forum<\/p>\n
The Zaferia Business Association is planning to host a forum for candidates hoping to be Long Beach\u2019s next mayor.<\/p>\n
The event will get underway on Wednesday, May 6, according to the business association\u2019s executive director Marissa Pfeifer, and aims to provide community members, neighbors, and business owners with a chance to get to know the candidates.<\/p>\n
All official mayoral candidates have been invited to participate, Pfeifer said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re excited for Long Beach\u2019s voters learn more about their candidates as they prepare to make an informed decision in the upcoming primary election,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n
The primary election will get underway on Tuesday, June 2.<\/p>\n
This event is free and open to the public. An RSVP is required to attend the event, which can be made online at shorturl.at\/svbSf.<\/p>\n
The forum will take place at 2824 E. Anaheim St.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Heather Kern, the visionary who encouraged thousands of Long Beach residents to don their finest pajamas for the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":237675,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[7,8132,3739,131,133,132,137,3738],"class_list":{"0":"post-237674","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-long-beach","8":"tag-california","9":"tag-grunion-business-beat","10":"tag-grunion-news","11":"tag-long-beach","12":"tag-long-beach-headlines","13":"tag-long-beach-news","14":"tag-los-angeles-county","15":"tag-the-grunion"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/237674","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=237674"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/237674\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/237675"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=237674"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=237674"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=237674"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}