REWARDING HUNT
Annual search for plastic eggs brings happiness to young and old
SCHUYLERVILLE, N.Y. >> There were hundreds of smiles, a few squeals of joy and an absence of tears Saturday as the greater Schuylerville community came out for the ninth annual Great Schuylerville Egg Hunt.
Hundreds of children spent part of the breezy sun-filled morning scrambling across the Schuylerville High School athletic field grabbing up handfuls of colorful plastic eggs filled with candy.
The event is sponsored by Faith Chapel Church, 6 Burgoyne St., Schuylerville. The congregation’s leader, Pastor Jason Proctor was the event’s master of ceremonies.
“We moved here nine years ago and wanted to give this to the community,” he said. “They do things like this in other places, but I didn’t see it around here. It’s a great way to put a smile on a lot of faces. I want people to be proud of their community. God’s greatest priority is people.”
People, plastic eggs, and happy kids were in abundance before, during and after the April 15 event. By 10:45 a.m. it was nearly impossible to find a parking spot in the school’s large lot.
As it got closer to the 11 a.m. start time, children, with empty Easter baskets in hand, could be seen pulling their parents toward the field in an effort to get them moving quicker.
The “egg hunts” were divided up by age groups starting with one, two, and three-year olds.
The eggs were placed
on the field in a scattershot configuration, from sideline to sideline, and about 30 yards away from the children, who were lined up at one end of the field with their baskets in hand.
On this, the day before Easter, many of the younger girls wore spring dresses and sun hats. The boys were more practical. A good pair of running shoes was their nod to high fashion.
Once Proctor said “go” the kids took off running, trying to scoop up as many of the eggs as they could. Following close behind were proud parents with cameras and smart phones in hand.
After all the eggs were collected, a team of volunteers from the church put out a new batch of candyfilled eggs. This time, they were placed a little farther away from the start line.
“We fill 10,000 of the eggs,” Proctor said. “We start stuffing them about three Sundays before Easter. This year we got some help stuffing them from the General Schuyler Emergency Squad. We don’t get many new faces in the pews from this, but being a neighbor is something you do for people without expecting to get something out of it.”
Three girls waiting for their age groups to be called were Skyler Jourdan, 4, Alaina Dalzell, 5, and Rylee Richards, 5. Jourdan and Dalzell are cousins. When the 4-year-olds were finally given their start signal, Jourdan headed across the field at a run.
Dalzell and Richards waited patiently, knowing they were 5-year-olds now and their turn was next. The two girls met in daycare when they were three and are now BFF — best friends forever.
Because of where they live, they attend kindergarten in two different school districts. The egg hunt has become an annual place for them to meet.
“When we’re done getting eggs I’m going to go play on her playground,” said an excited Rylee Richards nodding towards Dalzell.
After the girls’ age group had been called and they had both collected basketfuls of plastic eggs, they sat down next to each other on the turf field and began opening them.
“Look at this,” Richards said holding a piece of candy up to Dalzell.
“Oh, I’ve got one of those too,” she answered pulling a similar piece of candy out of her basket.
Together they began unwrapping piece after piece and enjoying the sweet fruit of their morning’s labors. After one last hunt, this time with two lines of laughing adults, it was all over.
“Besides being fun for the children, this is an opportunity for the moms and the grandmoms,” Proctor said. “I wanted to speak with actions and not just words that a church still has love to share.”