A Spring Scramble for Eggs: MV kids fill their baskets

By ELISE DALLEY & LAURA ROBISON

The Progress

It was perfect Easter Egg hunting weather last weekend. And Moapa Valley youngsters and their parents weren’t shy about turning out to the annual community-wide egg hunt events offered by the local Parks and Rec staff.

The Logandale Egg Hunt took place at the Sports Complex on Friday, April 7. Another Eggs-travaganza was staged at Moapa Park on Saturday morning as well. Both hunts were for children ages 10 and under. And both were well attended by the kids and their parents.

On Friday, children in Logandale were bursting with anticipation as they all lined up on the starting line before the hunt began. Each age-appropriate zone had about 1,500 eggs, with a total of 6,000 eggs all together.
There was also a bonus of about 18 prize eggs which could be cashed in for larger prizes.

The race was set to start at 10 am sharp and the Parks and Rec staff kept it prompt. Latecomers were out of luck as the eager children were suddenly set free en masse at the stroke of the hour. All the plastic eggs were quickly collected in a matter of minutes. Meanwhile excited parents cheered their young ones on.
“I had so much fun!” said fifth grader Bailee Winward. “I was excited to come and get candy!”

A unique addition to this years egg hunt was a Face Painting stand after the hunt. Also, the Little League had a concession stand open for anyone who wanted to purchase a treat or a drink.

Attendance numbers at the event were at a record high this year. Recreation Specialist LauraLyn Robison was the mastermind behind this egg hunt. She spent time planning and preparing for the egg hunt, and was able to pull it all together with the help of many others.

“The Egg Hunt is a great way to bring the community together so that they can enjoy the weather and the holiday together,” Robison said. “This year, Commissioner Kirkpatrick has generously donated to us to help us grow the egg hunt. We are trying to turn it into an even bigger event.”

Parks and Recreation were able to add more prize eggs and candies because of the money donated by the Commissioner. The hope is, that in the future there will be more games and events for the kids to enjoy.
“When the ball fields are completed, we will have a splash pad, playground, and eventually food trucks.” stated Robison. “We are trying to make it where people can stay and hang out.”

On Saturday morning, over 150 ‘egg-cited’ youngsters gathered at the Ron Lewis Park in Moapa to fill their baskets with eggs at the annual event. Some of these were the same that showed up the day before in Logandale.

Parks and Recreation Specialist Elmer Lopez said 3,000 plastic eggs filled with candy and small toys were spread out over the lawn.
“The kids are ready to run as fast as they can to get the specialty eggs, as well as the ones with candy,” Lopez said. “There are prize eggs that are labeled with numbers. If you get one of those, you take it to the table and redeem for a larger prize, such as stuffed animals and toys.”.

The whistle was blown at 10 am and the eager youngsters were off and running.

Five year old Dalton Schumacher collected 17 eggs including 3 prize eggs. For his efforts, his prizes were a Jelly bean gun, a stuffed bunny, and a carrot shaped bag filled with candy.
“I can pick up lots of eggs, because I like to go really fast,” Schumaker said.
His 3 year old sister Delaney didn’t have as many filled eggs because she was putting hers in other kids’ baskets.

Grayson House and his brother, Silas Knapp, were also in attendance. But each boy had a different reason for being there. Four year old Silas picked up every egg, showed them to his mom, and said, “I want to play on the playground.”

Gail Lindsay, a semi-retired employee of Parks and Rec who was helping at the egg hunt said, “This event began about 30 years ago. The park was not even built yet. The members of the Moose lodge would have about 12 dozen boiled and colored eggs, and have a hunt at a local residence.”

The ballfields and the Parks and Rec building were completed in 1989, and the upper park and pavillion were done in about 1994. “We asked the Moose Lodge if we could partner with them and have a bigger event, so we had about 500 plastic eggs along with the boiled eggs.”
“Eventually we ran the whole event, stopped using the colored boiled eggs, and now we are up to 3000 plastic treat-filled eggs,” Lindsay said.

The parents seem to enjoy the fun as much as their kids.

This annual tradition is sponsored by the County Commissioners. This year, Marilyn Kirkpatrick provided a grant to purchase the eggs, candy and toys for the children of the Moapa Valley.