April 1, 2008

Despite rain, Camden egg hunt goes on

By Carol Rosen
Editor

It took a bit of patience for the 2- to 4-year-olds, who are anxiously awaiting their turn to hunt plastic eggs and toys. Once the yellow tape was dropped, it was every boy and girl for themselves. Photos by Carol Rosen

It’s not often that children find themselves able to hunt Easter eggs when it’s raining and hailing outside, but that’s exactly what happened on Saturday, March 15 when the Cambrian Community Center held its second annual egg hunt. Due to weather, the center held its hunt in the community room, but no one appeared to be terribly sad about it.

The children came in all sizes and ages and unlike a year ago were, in most cases, dressed for the weather. They waited anxiously outside after registering and then were welcomed in by age group.

Possibly most disappointed were the parents and volunteers running the event. “Last year it was a lot of fun to grab a handful of candy and toss it in on the field,” said volunteer and City Councilmember Judy Chirco. “This year wasn’t as much fun, we had to carefully place the eggs on the wooden floor.”

However, the volunteers, which included members of the Cambrian Park Kiwanis Club and Leland High School, managed to get creative in hiding the colorful plastic eggs, some of which contained golden tickets and resulted in stuffed animals and big candy eggs for the two lucky winners in each different age group. Hiding the eggs appeared to be as much fun as finding them, with volunteers scattering them onto door frames and window handles as well as under some furniture.

Adriana and Sasha Ptacek, who are 2, each show off their favorite egg. The two girls live in Willow Glen.

Prior to their age-specific hunts, the children stayed behind yellow plastic tape with their parents. Only the youngest—2 and under—were allowed to have parental help. And most needed that help because, in some cases, the tots were unsure of what to do and in some cases found the plastic eggs and began to bite and play with them.

At least 170 children attended the hunt, with the largest group being the 2- to 4-year-olds with about 65 children. Groups hunted by age, allowing time to hide more eggs between the age groups.

Cleanup was a bit harder than in the field. Volunteers placed rugs, a parachute, hula-hoops and other various paraphernalia like tents to crawl through throughout the room with eggs hidden on and inside them.

The candy, eggs and toys were donated by the Kiwanis Club, Leland High School volunteers and the community center.