Egg-celent Easter

RONAN — What better time than Easter for a labor of love?

Phil and Diane Grant have taken the Easter spirit to heart for nearly 20 years now, hosting an Easter egg hunt for the children of the Mission Valley at their own home just outside of Ronan.

The Grants’ hunt has turned into an annual tradition for some families.

Autumn Adams has brought her children to nearly every one. Her oldest son, Elliott, used to participate. He brought his 2-year-old daughter Elise for her first time this year.

“It’s just good to have it here for all the families,” Elliott said.

He remembers finding the highly touted silver egg — an egg and cash prize covered in aluminum foil — several years.

The Grants began hosting their own egg hunt after a bad experience at one of the public events years back.

“My grandkids were here, and I took them to an egg hunt in town, and the eggs were raw,” Diane said.

And though their grandchildren lived out of town and have not been able to visit for Easter since, they decided to host their own egg hunt.

“We have a lot of friends with young kids,” Grant explained.

She said their first year, somewhere between 15 and 18 years ago, they only had about 10 children. This year’s count was closer to 40.

The Grants and their sons Joelfre, Allison and Dana boil, dye and hide all the eggs throughout their yard. They also provide baskets and candy scattered about the premesis for the kids.

“At first it was kind of just friends and it just grew from there,” said Joelfre, who was in college when the tradition started.

It’s a lot of work to set up, though. Joelfre said the preparation takes “more time than it takes them to gather them up.”

Diane said the egg hunt has become less formal as it’s grown, but she and Phil are just as enthusiastic about it as they were the first year.

“We used to find out how many and what ages [were coming], but now we just hope it works out,” she laughed.

Judging by the smiling faces and full baskets Saturday afternoon, they’re doing just fine.