THUNDER BAY – A wet and soggy baseball field didn’t stop more than 1,000 youngsters from the pandemonium that is the Hill City Kinsman’s annual Easter egg hunt at Frank Charry Park.
The Good Friday tradition, warmed by a spring sun finally doing its job, is a lot of fun said neighbours Ryan Santorelli and Heidi Johnson.
“I wanted to take part in the Easter egg hunt because I wanted to get a prize,” said eight-year-old Heidi. “I like that you get to collect eggs and collect lots of chocolate.”
Wise beyond her youth, Heidi said over the year’s she’s developed quite the strategy to maximize her egg return.
“You start running when he says go and you pick up as many eggs as you can carry and then you go to the next spot,” she said.
Ryan, also eight, said he was there for a singular purpose.
“To get the eggs and get chocolate,” he said.
Eight-year-old Eva Kirkland said she uses her speed to her advantage.
“People can’t really run that fast, so I get a lot of chocolate,” she said.
Her friend, Mila Piksiades, said the chase is the best part.
“My favourite part is when you get the eggs,” she said.
Watching the youngsters, who went out in four waves, sorted by age group, in search of plastic eggs filled with chocolate, prizes and even a voucher for a bicycle.
Organizer Jason Freeburn said the smiles on the children’s faces after all is said and done makes it all worthwhile.
“We love giving back to the community and having so many kids out here and seeing them get that instant gratification when they get their eggs and open them up. It’s awesome,” Freeburn said, after the last egg was snatched from the ground at the East End park.
“It was chaos. This year, because we had such great weather today, it brought out that many more people. We were actually quite surprised, even the guys that have been out her doing this for over 10 years we quite surprised at the crowds. This might be our biggest crowd ever.”
