COLUMBIA, S.C. — Local Midlands kids got to hunt for Easter eggs at the Richland County Sheriff's Department Region One Substation in Hopkins on Saturday - a sure sign that Easter weekend is upon us.
"There are some kids that may not have an Easter, but we want to make sure with the Sheriff's Department and the Crime Watch that these kids do have a happy Easter," said E.C. Nelson, the president of the Hopkins Community Awareness Crime Watch group.
With all the Easter festivities underway, it's easy to notice how good the holiday has been for business.
According to Experience Columbia, a tourism-based organization for the area, hotel occupancy for Easter weekend is at 69% this year, compared to 66% last year.
Maegan Horton, the executive chef at Blue Marlin, said they're expecting around 500 guests tomorrow for Easter brunch.
"So, there's obviously a lot of prep work that goes into behind the scenes, obviously throughout the week," Horton said. "We also combined Easter with Masters this year, so we have been busy all week long, and then tomorrow will be celebrating with families."
Horton said that on a typical Sunday, they serve food to about 250 to 300 people. She added that they've recruited more workers to help out at the restaurant on Easter Sunday.
Down Main Street, the employees at Miss Cocky Boutique are feeling the Easter weekend boost too, with 20% off their Easter dresses through this weekend and about 30% of their customers seeking out these items.
"All week through here, not only were people buying Easter dresses - we've got the Masters going on too; so, I've had people in from that and then people on spring break as well," employee Haley Davis said. "We've got people that are coming in from the UK to watch the Masters and then people that are going to Florida that live here locally."
The Lake Murray Country Regional Tourism Board said the fishing tournament they hosted this past week brought in $4.2M through hotel stays, tournament fees, and tournament marketing costs.
So, the rain this weekend hasn't kept Easter shoppers and eventgoers away.