Chad Lundquist/Nevada Appeal Aishwarya Anand, 5, dashes forward to collect her share of the 20,000 brightly colored Easter eggs placed on Governor's Field Sunday afternoon. It only took four minutes for the 3,500 children to gather what took volunteers more than an hour to disperse.
Just before 1 p.m. Sunday, Ainsley Corley was among the throng of 3,500 children awaiting the signal to run.
Scattered on the field in front of them were thousands of brightly colored eggs, mixed in with stuffed rabbits and the occasional smiling daisy. Behind the children were proud parents, cameras in hand. Some offered advice, but most were just trying to get children to look at the camera.
It took volunteers more than three hours to cook and dye the 20,000 eggs for the event and more than an hour to lay them out on the field.
It took the children less than four minutes to collect them.
In the pandemonium that followed the signal to run, the 2-year-old Ainsley held her own and ended up collecting several stuffed animals and eggs from the annual Easter Egg Hunt at Governor's Field.
Ainsley's mom, Jennifer Kirkland, said she hopes to bring Ainsley back to the event every year.
"I've done it since I was a kid, so I'm just hoping to carry on the tradition," Kirkland said.
Sitting on the pitcher's mound, the parents of Austyn Jackson, 21 months, and Aiden Fredlund, 10 months, snapped pictures of the boys and their loot. Aiden liked the yellow eggs, while Austyn preferred the orange ones.
"It was his first year and I wanted him to get to collect his own eggs," said Rindi Fredlund, Aiden's mom.
This was the first year the hunt was organized by the Kiwanis club, who took over running it from the Jaycees. Event chairman James Hamtak said with the exception of some overzealous parents, the event went well.
"There's no real way to change crowd control, but if the parents would just let the kids have fun and collect the eggs, it would work a lot better," Hamtak said. "But it's a fun event and it's great for the community and for families."
Five-year-old Savannah Gara said she thought she had enough eggs after she picked up her eighth and changed to focus to meeting the Easter Bunny.
"I like Easter the best," Savannah said. "You get stuffed animals and you get lots of toys."
The prizes for the event included 11 bicycles, numerous stuffed animals and coupons from local restaurants and businesses.
• Contact reporter Jarid Shipley at jshipley@nevadaappeal.com or 881-1217.