Egg hunt at church delights children despite rain
Saturday morning sprinkles didn’t stop children from gathering on the lawn of Warren’s Holy Cross Lutheran Church for their annual Easter egg hunt.
With colored baskets of all sizes, the children swarmed the front lawn of the church looking for more than 2,500 plastic eggs filled with candy and in some cases a small figurine of Jesus. The lucky children who found one of 24 golden eggs were able to exchange the egg for a small, stuffed lamb bearing a tag that said “It’s not about the bunny, it’s about the lamb” after the hunt.
“I’m so thankful they did this for the children,” said Noor Matti, who brought her four kids to the event. “The rain didn’t bother them at all.”
Christina Micallef brought her two children as well as her nieces and nephews. She won the raffle for a large Easter basket filled with treats that was provided by event sponsor Beth Shutke State Farm.
“It was really fun!” Micallef said. “The rain wasn’t bad and the kids really enjoyed it.”
Prior to the egg hunt, children gathered in the church with their parents to hear Pastor Eric Shanburn give a pre-hunt talk. He explained a little bit about the meaning of Easter while also reminding everyone that the plastic eggs were full of candy.
“We had a great turnout despite the rain,” said youth ministry director Laurel Clemons. “Just to see the kids and the families here was wonderful.”
One boy opened his plastic egg to find the small Jesus
figurine and excitedly yelled: “I got a Jesus!”
Clemons said it warmed her heart to see children express such joy, and not only about finding their favorite treats inside their eggs.
“The kids are so excited,” said Clemons. “One little girl came up to me and showed me she got the Jesus figurine and I told her to put him in her pocket and keep him with her always.
“Not everyone who registered for the event attended, which I am sure is because of the rain, but it honestly wasn’t bad at all and I don’t think most of the kids even noticed.”