Easter came early Saturday in more ways than one for hundreds of
San Benito County children.
Easter came early Satuday in more ways than one for hundreds of San Benito County children.
Gathered for the Veterans of Foreign Wars Easter Egg Hunt Saturday at Veterans Memorial Park, youngsters mistook a signal to prepare for the annual event as a sign to begin the hunt.
And hunt they did. Children scrambled across the fields searching for more than 4,300 eggs, some filled with gold coins worth anywhere from $1 to $5.
Hollister VFW Post 9242 Commander Charlie Scott said veterans’ groups have been sponsoring the egg hunt for at least 38 years, and during the past two years volunteers have prepared the eggs outside the Veterans Memorial Building because of its renovation.
“The Odd Fellows let us use their kitchen,” Scott said. “We’ll be back at the Veterans Hall next year.”
Volunteers began boiling 360 dozen eggs at 7:30 a.m. Friday and child volunteers arrived at 11 a.m. to help decorate the thousands of treasures.
“It was a lot of work yesterday (Friday), but a lot of fun today,” Scott said.
Saturday turned out to be a perfect day for the hunt. The sun was shining, the ground was dry and the children were primed for action.
The hunt was scheduled to start at 1 p.m., but it was over before it began.
As the starting time approached, the announcer, Scott said, yelled “Go, go, go” – but only meant for the children to line up for the start.
“I started to holler, ‘It’s too early,’ but it was too late,” Scott said.
The anxious egg-hunters pressed against the gate, but instead of lining up along the fence to wait for the sign to start, they pushed their way through the gate, screaming, running and hunting for eggs.
“The whistle blew and it was a madhouse,” Scott said. “It’s not the first time it’s happened.”
But all in all, everyone had fun, even the ones who missed out because of the early start.
Any child who arrived on time but missed the egg hunt still found some eggs to go home with.
“We held some eggs back just in case,” Scott said. “We’re doing our best not to leave anyone out.”
