By MAGGIE MCMURRAY
Moapa Valley Progress
There are few things in life for on you completely miss out if you are just one minute late for them. There is no doubt that a local Easter egg hunt is one of those things.
Over a hundred eager kids gathered on the soccer fields and near the playground at the Moapa park last Wednesday morning for the annual Clark County Parks and Recreation Moapa Easter Egg Hunt.
Event organizer and director of Moapa Parks and Rec, Gail Lindsay, was well prepared, though. The crowds of children were greeted with green park fields filled with glistening colorful Easter eggs spread almost as far as the eye could see.
Or at least that’s how it was for the younger kids. Kids ages 9 and 10 were faced with a bit of a challenge as their eggs were spread through the desert wash behind the park, hidden beneath bushes, in sand and around rocks. But they were all up for the challenge.
Easter egg hunts are a popular activity this time of year and Lindsay enjoys planning them. In fact, this particular hunt in Moapa has been a tradition there for over a decade.
Lindsay and her team of employees and volunteers started early the morning of the hunt spreading eggs over the grass and hiding them for the older kids. Then, as the time draws near, they greet families as they arrive with a bucket for each child to decorate with stickers and other materials if they wish. Some kids brought their own baskets and were happy to have a back-up, while others were thrilled to get a new bucket to replace plastic bags or other gathering materials.
Of course, tension is always high with the kids waiting on the line in the few minutes before the buzzer. So the Parks and Rec staff turned up the music and took to the field to show off their dance moves. The kids quickly joined in for a pre-hunt dance party that helped pass the time.
The weather was unseasonably cold and very windy, which cut down on the numbers somewhat. But no one seemed to mind. It meant more eggs for everyone there.
At the buzzer, kids ran and picked up eggs as fast as they could, carefully scouring the ground for precious prize eggs as they went. Some age groups got several eggs each, while others had enough to fill up their buckets to overflowing. Everyone had a good time.
Zane Shakespear, 4, was very excited to be there.
“I love finding Easter eggs!” he said.
His grandma, Nikki Fessler, was there to watch and cheer him on. “It’s a nice small-town thing,” Fessler said. “You don’t have events like this, with this atmosphere, in Vegas. We wanted to come and bring the kids and participate with the community and maybe even start a family tradition.”
Young Zane was not the only kid to be excited. Parent Taci May of Moapa, said, “We drove by the Parks and Rec sign on Sunday and saw the hunt advertised and that’s all my kids have talked about. Usually they sleep until about 8 in the morning but today they woke me up at 6. They’ve been counting down ever since.”
Even the adults were having fun. Clark County Community Liaison Janice Ridondo, who lives in Overton, was there to cheer the kids on.
“This was certainly the most well-organized Easter egg hunt I have ever been to,” Ridondo said. “Seeing the little kids having so much fun really warms your heart.”
Lindsay was pleased with how the event turned out. “I think it went really well,” she said. “We had a great turnout with well over 200 people here including parents, which was really great when you consider the weather. Most importantly, we had plenty of eggs, so it was a good time for everyone.”
