Photos: Chilly temperatures can’t slow search for golden egg
A cold, clear and sunny morning with temperatures hovering near 40 degrees brought out hundreds of children and their families for the annual Egghunt at Stotzky Park Saturday morning, sponsored by the Town of Riverhead’s Recreation Department. Children up to age 10 were dressed in winter garb with parkas and scarfs to protect them from the 15 mph winds, which made it feel more like winter than spring.
The recreation staff set out 4,750 candy-filled plastic eggs on the ballfields and children were divided into age groups to race onto the fields to collect the eggs. For each age group there were eight specially marked eggs and a golden egg. The lucky children who got them received prizes of either a nearly two-foot tall chocolate bunny (golden egg), a stuffed animal or a toy.
There was also a game of guessing how many jelly beans were in a jar for each age group. The winner got to keep the beans and received a stuffed animal.
In Flanders, close to 50 eager little egg seekers lined up the Big Duck for the second annual Egghunt co-sponsored by The Friends of the Big Duck and the Flanders-Northampton Volunteer Ambulance.
The hunt was over in just two minutes Saturday morning.
The playing field was split into two groups, ages 2 to 4, and those who were older. There was one golden egg in each field. The grand prize, a basket full of goodies, went to whoever found the golden eggs.
“This was the best,” said 8-year-old Nataly Costillo of Greenport. “It was really cool. I got like 24 eggs.”
Six-year-old Mia Giblin from Connecticut won the basket for the older age group. She was out visiting her Aunt in Flanders. Yaretzi Portillo-Diaz, who is almost 1-years-old, won for the younger age group.
The Easter Bunny made an appearance, played by Muriel Froehlich, who said she has been playing the bunny for almost 20 years.
