Children hunt for 'golden' Easter egg

It was like searching for the golden ticket at Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory.

Nothing was holding back more than 400 children and their parents who attended the annual Easter Egg Hunt at Holmes Foster Park Saturday, not even the pouring rain that was overcome by sun just in time for the event.

"I'm gonna get the surprise egg!" said 7-year-old C.J. Bahr of Boalsburg before a horn began the mad scurry to gather some of the 4,800 plastic eggs scattered between tall trees.

Just 12 of the eggs contained the sought-after orange ticket that promised a special Easter basket. Other eggs hatched little toys such as Slinkies and play figures, said Denee Sudano, recreation supervisor of Centre Region Parks and Recreation, which co-sponsored the event with PNC Bank.

But 3-year-old Kimberly Farwell of State College pointed out that the eggs are just "pretend eggs."

"They have bunnies in the eggs," she said. "When the whistle blows we run as fast as we can!"

Before the horn blew, the children and their parents waited anxiously by ropes marking off sections for different age groups.

"It looks like it's going to take a long time and then it takes a minute and the eggs are gone," said C.J.'s father, Chris Bahr.

In fact, the hunt only lasted about a minute-and-a-half, but parents took advantage of the chance to coach their varsity Easter egg hunters.

As the 2-year-olds through third-graders hustled the colorful plastic eggs, parents could hardly keep themselves on the sidelines.

"Hurry Chris -- over there!" coached another.

Some parents finally gave in to the excitement.

"I wanna cheat!" said one father as he entered the hunting arena, and others followed to put more eggs into their children's baskets just before time ran out.

But getting the most eggs wasn't as important to all the children as it was to some of the adults.

Emily Carrello, 4, of State College said running around and picking up eggs was just as much fun as getting prizes.

And even when 3-year-old Elle Matalavage of State College found an orange ticket in one of her eggs and won a basket full of Easter candy, she said she liked some of the smaller surprises and running around better.

"I got a little guy," she said enthusiastically about one of the toy figures.

The fun didn't end with the cracking of the eggs, however, as participants were also able to meet the Easter Bunny.

One girl even gave the Easter Bunny some pacifiers to take to her baby bunnies, said Kirstin Gallagher (senior-English) who played the Easter Bunny for the day as part of her involvement with Gamma Sigma Sigma, a service sorority.

Other prizes included toy planes, super balls and spin tops, although 8-year-old Sean Shields of Houserville said he was hoping to get a pet snake.

"They always love looking for the treats inside," said his mother, Lori Shields.