Happy hunters: Excited children race to gather Easter eggs

It was over in less than a minute.

Weeks of planning, hours of preparation and dozens of volunteers went into the success of the annual Carson City Easter Egg Hunt Saturday at Centennial Park.

But after a countdown over the loudspeaker, four baseball fields lined with children and adults were vacuumed clean of 15,000 eggs in a matter of seconds.

The K-Bull 98.1 FM radio announcer laughed and said, "Bet you wish they could clean their rooms that fast."

Delighted parents and grandparents cheered their kids on, and one was heard to joke from the crowd, "Forty seconds of chaos after a two-mile walk!"

Prior to the hunt, Sheri Fratis of Carson City, said she attended the event with her daughter-in-law and 2-year-old granddaughter Kyla.

"This is the first Easter egg hunt for my granddaughter. 'Eggs! Eggs!' was all she could say," Fratis said. "This is great for all the families."

Ryder Kiel, 3, who was running excitedly toward his field with only minutes to spare before the countdown, said he was "here for the Easter Bunny and the Easter eggs."

Patti Smith, also of Carson City, said that she had brought her 7-year-old son Jack and 6-year-old grandson Bobby Agnew to the hunt.

"We wanted to come out and participate and wanted the kids to have fun. We missed the last two years and they're excited, they're ready," Smith said.

She looked over her shoulder at the long line of parents and children traipsing up to the fields after walking, in some cases, all the way from the golf clubhouse.

"I sure hope they wait for all the kids. They'll be very disappointed if they miss it," she said. "I like how they have everything set up with different age groups at separate fields. There is plenty for everybody that way."

For those who arrived in time, there indeed did appear to be plenty for all.

Nine-year-old Rebeka Rivera of Carson City showed off her basket which contained a mix of at least 25 hard-boiled colored eggs and plastic, candy-filled eggs.

"I just wanted to go and run for the eggs," she said. "It was fun."

Twelve-year-old Daniel Martinez of Carson City said he came to "get some eggs and have some fun."

He said he enjoyed the event because there were "a lot of people and I was here with my family."

He estimated he had about 50 eggs, though the count had not yet been verified.

"I was kind of fast, and if there were a lot in one spot, I just grabbed all of them," Martinez said.

Elizabyth Wilson, 3, of Carson City, was thrilled with her loot.

"Yeah, I got a basket and an Easter Bunny and we got lots of eggs," she said.

Kristen Marshall's two children, Odin Riley, 3, and Harmony Powers, 9, had just moved to Carson City from Incline Village.

"I got prizes and candy," said Odin.

"I wanted to come here to hunt eggs," Harmony said, "because there is a bunch of candy and stuff in the eggs."

Sheriff Ken Furlong, who chatted with parents as they walked back to their cars after the hunt, estimated there were thousands of people at the event.

"That's the only thing you can say," he said. "And, we got a little break in the weather to get this done."

Four years ago, the Kiwanis Club took over the community Easter Egg Hunt that began 33 years ago. In recent years, the popular event switched to the Saturday preceding Easter Sunday because there was always a problem finding volunteers to work on the holiday.

Organizer Bobby Bean said this was the second year the egg hunt was held at Centennial Park because crews are better able to control the hoards of parents, who in years past have been known to trample some of the smaller children in a quest to help their children collect a bounty.