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Eggstravaganza brings out thousands
By Kalea Hall
BOARDMAN
It was a picture-perfect scene:
Multi-colored eggs glistening in the sun, children gleaming with excitement as if it were Christmas morning, and mud. Lots of mud.
But the mud didn’t stop thousands of youngsters from diving in on 50,000 Easter eggs filled with joy and candy. In the end, some of them walked away with heaps of eggs and others a few. But all of them — with mud-caked shoes — feasted on the spirit of spring at the Boardman Park Eggstravaganza sponsored by Greater Life Church of Boardman on Saturday afternoon.
“It’s a great opportunity to celebrate the spring season and to enjoy the Green Oasis [Boardman Park] as a community,” said Karen McCallum, the park’s recreation/outdoor education specialist.
This was the first time the park joined with Greater Life Church to sponsor the egg hunt. In the past, both entities had separate egg hunts but decided to combine for an even larger event with an expected 3,000 guests, inflatable slides and rides, games and live music in addition to the hunt.
The event is starting to become one of the largest, and some 90 church and park volunteers were there to lend a helping hand.
Four separate egg fields were set up for various age groups from infant to 12. Parents crowded around each field with their eager children, Easter baskets in hand, to get ready for egg-grabbing.
“All right, yellow field, are you ready?” the announcer at the event yelled over the sound system.
One of the egg hunters who came out with a pail of eggs was 5-year-old Carter Ray of New Waterford. He went in the yellow field with his sister, Makenna, 3, who also had a heaping pile of eggs. Their method: just grab them all.
“I thought it was well organized,” said Stephanie Ray, their mother.
The family plans to come back next year.
Among the crowd of kids were two bunnies. Stella Sardich, 5, and her sister, Lily, 3, of Boardman donned bunny ears as they hopped through the mud to snatch some eggs.
“I found a Tootsie Roll,” Stella exclaimed to her mother, Julie.
Julie said she brought her girls because “It’s a gorgeous day and just to let them have some fun and enjoy the Easter festivities.”
Edie Davidson and her husband, Bill, of Boardman brought their two grandchildren, Reagan Turner, 6, and her brother, John, 5.
“It’s just really nice to have family activities and just watch the excitement of the kids,” Edie said.
Eggstravaganza is a free community event.