Most years, the children of Kanopolis would gather in the city park for an egg hunt to celebrate Easter.

Unfortunately, this is not most years.

When children wake up Easter morning, many will find a present and eggs on their front lawns — placed there the night before by volunteers doing the work of the Easter Bunny.

It’s called thinking outside the box and there was a lot of that going on this past week as Ellsworth County adjusted to the new normal in this age of Covid-19.

As of Monday, 82 Kansans had tested positive for the virus. So far, the illness has not been reported in Ellsworth County or surrounding counties. The two tests taken here come back negative, Kerianne Ehrlich, supervisor of the Ellsworth County Health Department, told participants in a community conference call late this past week.

But events moved rapidly by the day and in some cases by the hour.

In the space of a few days:

• Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly ordered all school buildings closed, thus eliminating many of the activities planned for the remainder of the 2019-20 school year.

• Local and state health officials restricted public and private gatherings to fewer than 10 people and Ellsworth County restaurants turned to drive-thru or curbside services after in-restaurant dining was banned. And churches, like the schools and city governments, figured out ways to deliver their Sunday services using technology.

It also was a time of community, when neighbors reached out to neighbors.

“It’s a blessing to give and we have to figure out ways to do that, in both big ways and small ways,” said Amy Jo Hawley, pastor of Ellsworth’s First Presbyterian Church.

There seemed to be few limits to the outreach — or to the disruption.

At the request of the Ellsworth County Medical Center’s Tina Davis, Hawley said her church is coordinating an effort to sew masks for nursing home residents and others in need protection.

Hawley said volunteers need tightly woven cotton and flannel fabrics and flat elastic bands, one-fourth-inch wide or smaller. The masks can be washed in extremely hot water for reuse.

The church also is accepting donations, which can be taken to the Presbyterian Church and placed on the front desk. The telephone number is (785) 472-5557.

Hawley said Sunday services have been cancelled across Ellsworth County, but churches are using digital resources to reach people. First Presbyterian has a worship production team, which brings Hawley to her congregation from the church sanctuary.

Even funerals have been affected. One recent ceremony took place graveside with immediate family because of the fewer-than-10-persons order. A celebration of life will be planned later, after the Covid-19 emergency passes into history.

In times such as these, Hawley said, it’s important for people to remember the comfort of being together, even when they’re not.

People need to know there are still some things they can count on, thus her worship services from the church sanctuary.

Perhaps no one knows that better than Zach Ullom, pastor of Lorraine’s First Baptist Church.

Ullom was in Greece with a small group on an old New Testament transcript ministry when the seriousness of Covid-19 became apparent. He boarded an airplane March 12, four days ahead of schedule, and landed in Texas.

He has been in self-imposed quarantine ever since with his two dogs. Ullom, who also serves as president of the Ellsworth Area Chamber of Commerce, has kept busy reading and exercising.

The first week, his congregation arranged for Sunday worship; the church went digital this past weekend.

Ullom, who has shown no symptoms, expects to be out of quarantine March 31.

“I’m just trying to follow the recommendations and be wise about all of this,” he said.

He worries about the largely elderly members of his congregation, several of whom have hunkered down in their homes at the urging of children.

On the positive side, Ullom said he has been cheered by the acts of kindness he has seen around him, from donations of equipment to postings on the internet.

“It really has not been singular — not one, but a thousand,” he said.