Beeping eggs sound call for fun at hunt

Police hold Easter event for visually impaired children.

The Cobb County Police Department brought a little Easter joy a bit early this year by holding an Easter egg hunt Saturday for children who are visually impaired.

For the past three years, the department has been holding an egg hunt for kids who have vision difficulties, including those who are blind. The department’s bomb squad crafted a small device that dispels a gentle beeping sound, and then placed each one into a plastic egg. Each egg has a switch that starts the beeping sound, which is turned on when the kids participate in the egg hunt.

“We have a toggle switch here on the bottom. You hit the switch, it gives you the audible tone, and that way the child can locate the egg by sound and then put it in the basket,” said Lt. Chris Duncan of the Cobb County Police Deparment.

The department got the idea from the International Association of Bomb Technicians and Investigators when one of the technicians created the beeping egg so his visually impaired daughter could participate in an egg hunt, Duncan said.

Shaunna Rollison brought her daughter Bri’ehl Rollison, 11, to the event.

“Other events, the kids are literally running her over and she doesn’t find any eggs,” Rollison said. “Of course everybody’s in a rush and this gives her time and space to kind of listen and use the skills that she has to have some fun, and nobody’s running her over.”

Bri’ehl is legally blind and can see when she finds a line of sight, Rollison said. The beeping helped her. She picked up all of the eggs the officer placed down — about 25 of them.

Kimberly Cook, 6, was at the egg hunt with her dad and grandmother, Cindy Chambers. Kimberly is completely blind, her grandmother said, so she relies on her hearing and touch.

“It’s very meaningful because we love to hear her laugh, and it’s so nice for the community to do something for children who do have special needs,” Chambers said.

“The fact that she enjoyed it means a lot,” said Casey Cook, her dad.

Duncan said the department wants the event to reach more families.

“Every year we try to make it bigger. The plan is to continue to go forward every year and make this an annual event,” Duncan said.

STEVE SCHAEFER/STEVE.SCHAEFER@AJC.COM Shaunna Rollison watches her daughter Bri’ehl, 11, find a beeping modified Easter egg during the Beeping Easter Egg Hunt at Acworth Community Center on Saturday. The Cobb County Police Department bomb team puts together the special beeping eggs so visually impaired children can find them.