MONROE - The children waited patiently on the bleachers in front of the band shell.
OK, maybe not as patiently as some of their parents would have liked, but the kids were there and they came with a purpose.
About 600 youngsters came to Twining Park the day before Easter to find bags filled with candy in the grass. They did their best to listen and wait for the signal to start their Easter egg hunt.
One mother laughed as one son listened to her command to stay where he was while she hurried to get her other son, who wasn't sure he wanted to wait for the hunt to start.
Children and parents arrived at the park more than 30 minutes before the 1 p.m. start time. To keep busy, the kids were able to visit the Easter bunny and have their pictures taken. Some wanted to sit on the bunny's lap; others weren't so sure when their mom or dad handed them off to the furry rabbit with a big smile.
Some cried and held onto their parents a little tighter.
"He's not afraid of the rabbit," one parent told his daughter while her older brother stood beside the bunny.
The little girl wasn't impressed by her older brother's bravery and decided to pass up the opportunity to have a picture of herself with the bunny.
As more and more children arrived it became apparent why the volunteers split them into groups. To send them all out at once would be too difficult. The volunteers, made up of middle school, high school and some college students, gave the children tickets for individual sections of the bleachers. There were about 50 children in each group. An adult was in charge of each section to make sure everything went smoothly.
Smoothly is a relative term for how well the hunt actually took place. But the adults did their best to create some semblance of order.
At their designated areas the children were reminded once again to pick up one white bag filled with candy. The bags weren't really hidden; they were on the ground and fairly easy to spot.
Then, the kids were given permission to go find the bags.
Laughing, running and screaming they set off to find their candied treasure, leaving their parents behind to wait for them to return. Some of the children who were too shy to sit with the Easter bunny didn't give it a second thought to leave their parents behind as they ran off with everyone else in their group.
It was a mad dash to pick up the candy bags. Nothing appeared able to get in their way after they had spotted the bag they wanted. The older kids having a slight advantage in that they could run faster. But, what the younger children lacked in speed they made up for in determination, with a little help from their parents, to find a bag of their own.
"Look what I got mom," one girl said as she held up a piece of candy for her mom to see.
OK, maybe not as patiently as some of their parents would have liked, but the kids were there and they came with a purpose.
About 600 youngsters came to Twining Park the day before Easter to find bags filled with candy in the grass. They did their best to listen and wait for the signal to start their Easter egg hunt.
One mother laughed as one son listened to her command to stay where he was while she hurried to get her other son, who wasn't sure he wanted to wait for the hunt to start.
Children and parents arrived at the park more than 30 minutes before the 1 p.m. start time. To keep busy, the kids were able to visit the Easter bunny and have their pictures taken. Some wanted to sit on the bunny's lap; others weren't so sure when their mom or dad handed them off to the furry rabbit with a big smile.
Some cried and held onto their parents a little tighter.
"He's not afraid of the rabbit," one parent told his daughter while her older brother stood beside the bunny.
The little girl wasn't impressed by her older brother's bravery and decided to pass up the opportunity to have a picture of herself with the bunny.
As more and more children arrived it became apparent why the volunteers split them into groups. To send them all out at once would be too difficult. The volunteers, made up of middle school, high school and some college students, gave the children tickets for individual sections of the bleachers. There were about 50 children in each group. An adult was in charge of each section to make sure everything went smoothly.
Smoothly is a relative term for how well the hunt actually took place. But the adults did their best to create some semblance of order.
At their designated areas the children were reminded once again to pick up one white bag filled with candy. The bags weren't really hidden; they were on the ground and fairly easy to spot.
Then, the kids were given permission to go find the bags.
Laughing, running and screaming they set off to find their candied treasure, leaving their parents behind to wait for them to return. Some of the children who were too shy to sit with the Easter bunny didn't give it a second thought to leave their parents behind as they ran off with everyone else in their group.
It was a mad dash to pick up the candy bags. Nothing appeared able to get in their way after they had spotted the bag they wanted. The older kids having a slight advantage in that they could run faster. But, what the younger children lacked in speed they made up for in determination, with a little help from their parents, to find a bag of their own.
"Look what I got mom," one girl said as she held up a piece of candy for her mom to see.