Jonathan McCaul set a new personal best on Good Friday at the annual East End Easter Egg Hunt.
The 10-year-old broke through a wave of chocolate-hungry youngsters, dug his heels into the softened turf at Frank Charry Park and dashed into the midst of the frenzy, one thing and one thing only on his mind.
“It was really awesome. I was almost the first one, but it was almost like being pushed by a wall,” Jonathan said, his bag full of plastic eggs. “I also beat my record. My record was to beat 15. I got 18.”
His companion, nine-year-old Lyric Doiron, said it was a blast collecting the candy.
“I like to run around a lot. It was really fun. I like chocolate too.”
Chocolate collection seemed to be the reason most of the hundreds of kids who took part on Friday afternoon cited for coming out.
Ten-year-old Tomasz Joks, said it’s good to have chocolate on Easter, though he was also out for fun.
“I think it’s a really good experience to have,” he said.
There are tricks to the trade, piped up young Jonathan.
“The secret is to see a pile of eggs and run straight for it. Then you just grab,” he said.
Julia Villeneuve, an 11-year-old volunteer, spent her formative years participating in the Easter egg hunt, and this year, being a year too old to join in the fun, nonetheless wanted to soak in the atmosphere and give a little something back for all her years of enjoyment.
“I wanted to share the gift of Easter with everybody and make sure everyone got a couple of eggs and just helping spread around the (joy of) the holidays,” she said. “I think everybody got a couple of eggs, which is good. I think everybody had a lot of fun and they got a lot of chocolate.”
It’s an event that a year ago looked like it might disappear. Staged for years by the Simpson Street Business Improvement Association, a lack of volunteers put the Easter egg hunt in jeopardy in 2009, only to see the city’s Kinsmen and Kinette clubs come to the rescue.
This year, with the donation of about 10,000 plastic eggs and the chocolate to go inside by Liquidation World, and a promise to continue in the future, it appears to have a long life ahead of it.
Mike Meady, general manager at the Thunder Bay store, said it’s an event he didn’t want to see disappear.
“We think this is a worthwhile endeavour, so we couldn’t let it happen,” said Meady, who grew up playing at Frank Charry Park. “It’s too important to the community kids here, especially in the east end. A lot of them don’t have a lot stuff.”
