The Easter bunny made its way to the Village of Brightwaters on April 19, just in time for the annual egg hunt and just one day before Easter. With the temperature reaching summer-like weather, it was a successful event for the community. Thousands of eggs were placed at Wohseepee Park for children of all ages to gather.

This year’s egg hunt was sponsored by the Village of Brightwaters and the Bay Shore Lions Club. The two team up each year to put together the family-friendly event. It wasn’t just limited to residents of Brightwaters; others from neighboring communities were welcomed to participate.

By 2:30 p.m., parents were already starting to arrive, and children had their easter baskets in hand. A few minutes before 3 p.m., there was a line trailing the entry to the first time slot.

To ensure a fair time for all, ages were divided into three groups. The first group was for ages 4 and younger, and began collecting at 3 p.m. The following time slot was for ages 5 to 9 and another right next to it for ages 10 and older, both starting at 3:30 p.m.

Children in the first time slot were allowed to enter in groups of 12. They were also encouraged to limit their baskets to 12 easter eggs.

Members of the Bay Shore Lions Club arrived just a couple of hours beforehand to get started on placing the eggs throughout Wohseepee Park. About 4,000 colorful eggs were filled with goodies for everyone. For the younger kids, toys filled the eggs and for the older ones, candy and toys.

This year had a bit of a surprise: when the delivery of easter eggs was opened, the toys they were supposed to be filled with weren’t inside the eggs. They’re supposed to come pre-filled, but that wasn’t the case on April 19. They were shipped together but separately.

However, members of the Lions Club were able to have them ready just in time to be placed. Member Catherine Jan said the process took about an hour and a half.

“They weren’t put together, so we just spent an hour and a half stuffing all the eggs,” Jan said.

After all of the eggs in the 3 p.m. time slot were collected, families who also had older children made their way to the other side of Wohseepee Park for the following time slot. A crowd ensued as children waited for a 3:30 p.m. start time. Once the time came, children flooded the field and the easter eggs were gone within minutes.

Mayor of Brightwaters John Valdini is constantly coming up with how to improve each year’s egg hunt. Six years ago, the eggs were placed in one area, but were always grabbed quickly by the older children and younger children left out.

The event was also originally held on Easter Sunday morning, but had a lower turnout. Once the date moved to the Saturday before Easter, crowds would show up each year and line up.

“I would like to thank [Village of Brightwaters] trustee Pitta and his two daughters for helping set up today with the Bay Shore Lions,” mayor Valdini said. “We had a huge turnout again and we just try and keep it organized chaos; we gave away over 4,000 eggs and it never seems like enough.”