The hunt is on
Jory Becker, 11 months, sits next to an Australian Shepard puppy Saturday during the 5th annual Easter Egg Hunt at Dayton Park.
Triss Lindberg, of Proctor, walks with her daughter Ula Saturday during the four years and under Easter Egg Hunt at Dayton Park.
Children four years of age and over line up to start an Easter Egg Hunt Saturday at Dayton Park. The chilly weather cut the festivities short by a few hours.
Children four years and older run to search for Easter Eggs Saturday during the 5th annual Easter Egg Hunt at Dayton Park. 50 dozen eggs were painted for the event.
Children search for money in bales of hay Saturday as part of the 5th annual Easter Egg Hunt at Dayton Park.
DAYTON - Chilly weather cut short the fifth annual Easter Egg Hunt on Saturday at Dayton Park.
The event started with a traditional Easter egg hunt at 11 a.m. Michelle Hernandez, who has volunteered for the past two years, donned a bunny costume and lined up the children aged four and older. She raised her hands above her bunny ears and threw her hands down to start the hunt. Younger children looked for eggs in the grass in a smaller fenced-in area.
About 50 dozen painted eggs and 100 plastic eggs were donated by the Dayton Proctor Park Association and volunteers, said Pam O'Mara, a member of the park board.
"My chickens have been hatching eggs for months to get ready for this," O'Mara joked.
Several events, including a duck walk, run and scream, pass the orange, and hula hoop contest, were planned, but canceled due to the temperatures, which dipped into the 30s. O'Mara said about 160 kids attended last year, and she blames the weather for this year's turnout of about 90 children.
"It's usually three to four hours, but this year's event was only a little over an hour," O'Mara said.
Participants did make it to the aptly named "money in the straw" game and an Easter bonnet hat contest. The winner, Kim Edwards, of Missoula, wore a hat shaped as a giant Easter egg. "Happy Easter" in foam letters rested on the brim of the hat.
O'Mara said that five years ago some Dayton Proctor association members got together and decided to plan an Easter egg hunt.
"We noticed that the Easter egg hunts in the area were just egg hunts. They were over in a few minutes," O'Mara said. "We thought it would be fun to have something more than just an Easter egg hunt. People have come from all over so I guess they agree."
O'Mara said that the Dayton Proctor Park Association as well as volunteers planned the day's events for many hours over a two week span.
The park association always invites the local children to a dinner at the Elmo Community Center the Thursday before Easter so that they can get a chance to decorate the eggs and get into the Easter spirit.