Milton egg hunt honors John Lehne

When John Lehne, owner of Milton’s 302 Bicycles, died Jan. 27 after a battle with cancer, it left a hole in a community that had become accustomed to his warm and giving spirit.

An event Lehne would do every Easter is an egg hunt, where he would hide Easter eggs with a message to take a photo, share it to social media and claim a prize.

With the blessing of Lehne’s widow, Emily, Milton resident Shauna McVey has picked up the mantle and continued the egg hunt this year. 

The hunt officially kicked off March 18, and eggs will continue to be hidden daily through Easter Sunday, March 31. Each person who finds an egg will be able to redeem it for a prize at town hall. The prize is a $10 gift certificate to a local Milton business. 

McVey said the egg hunt is a personal event for her. When she moved to Milton in 2018, she lived alone with her dog and was going through a difficult time in her life. During that first year living in Milton, she found two eggs. It is how she met Lehne. 

“I entered his shop – perhaps to show him the egg I found and pick my prize. He had a customer there and eventually I sat down on a stool and we all talked for more than an hour. I hail from southern New Castle County, but Milton welcomed me with open arms, and you see a lot of familiar faces when you live downtown. John usually wore a bright smile on his. He had a way to provide a glimmer of joy without even speaking a word,” McVey said.

After Lehne’s passing, she and her husband, Finn McCabe, wanted to carry on the egg hunt. 

“We are both kids at heart, and it’s fun to hide eggs around town for kids and adults. It has morphed into paying the joy forward, which I am told is very much what John intended to do in his life,” McVay said.

She reached out to Emily Lehne, who was OK with continuing the event; McVey said the Lehnes are planning to participate in hiding the eggs.

“This is not at all about me,” McVey said. “I hope more community members who want to pitch in gift certificates to local businesses or help with the eggs reach out to me going forward so we can expand to more than one egg per day. Not only would that help keep John’s joy alive, it would also allow for even more of it to spread throughout Milton.”

Updates on eggs can be found on Facebook at the 302 Bicycles page or through community pages.