SALISBURY — Every year, the Historic Salisbury Foundation invites local families to the Hall House for the Hall House Hop, an Easter-themed event that aims to bring local families together to enjoy the historic property.

“Having it on the lawn of our beautiful 1820s historic house museum is the perfect backdrop for what we hope will create wonderful family memories and introduce an interest in what we do and why it’s so important to preserve these old buildings,” wrote HSF Executive Director Kimberly Stieg in an email.

Saturday’s Hall House Hop was the fourth iteration of the event, with Stieg saying it came out of the foundation’s brainstorming about ways to utilize the Hall House by exposing it to the public and using its unique aspects to engage the community.

“We were really looking for ways that we could present that treasure to the community. Especially since the Hall House is one of those 115 properties that we have protective covenants on. So, the kids and the parents that come out, they know that house is going to be preserved and protected 50 years from now and they can still enjoy it because of those covenants, so that’s a good feeling,” said Stieg.

The event brought together multiple springtime-themed activities into one large event on the Hall House lawn, including a bunny petting zoo, a plant sensory station, a beekeeper presentation and arts and crafts tables. Stieg said that the foundation was aiming for a springtime educational theme for the event.

Copper Meadow Farmstead, a flower farm and special events venue out of Rockwell, brought their pet rabbits, while Bear Poplar Bee Co. out of Mt. Ulla brought honey, lip balm, and of course a honey bee colony. Stieg said that kids particularly enjoyed finding the queen bee in the colony, which Bear Poplar Bee Co. beekeepers had placed a white dot on.

The sensory station allowed children to see, touch and smell springtime flowers, with families able to take home their own free seed packets to plant more.

By the end of the day, Stieg said that the event brought over 200 people to the West Square Neighborhood.

“We’re lucky that there are so many events in our area around that time, so we felt very fortunate to get the crowd that we did. A lot of the families come back every year, but we also saw a lot of faces that were unfamiliar to us, so we felt fortunate,” said Stieg.