About a dozen teenage Girl Scouts from Troop 2422 of Riva and Edgewater took half a day off from school last Friday to host an egg hunt for preschoolers at Central Special School in Edgewater.
Troop leader, Becki Hutchison, said she surveyed the girls last fall about activities they'd like to do.
"We were brainstorming ideas, and I thought it would be fun to have an Easter egg hunt," Olivia Blandford, 14, said.
Becki said that she called around and found that most of the neighborhoods in the area already hosted their own egg hunts.
"So I decided to call schools. The closest in proximity was Central Special, and they were receptive," Becki said.
The hunt was set for 1 p.m., which meant that the Girl Scouts would get out of school for the afternoon.
The students who would be hunting were 3- and 4-year-olds at Central Special's Early Childhood Intervention preschool program. These are students with special needs including developmental delays like autism and Down syndrome.
Each Scout was responsible for filling three dozen plastic eggs with nonedible treats like stickers and miniature toys.
The rainy afternoon left them unable to hide the eggs outside, which was the original plan. The Scouts quickly adapted by hiding the eggs in the classroom.
The teachers took the children for a walk around the building.
The girls set to work hiding the eggs. There were plenty of nooks for hiding. The brightly colored eggs were hidden on the bookshelf, on the seats, in the toys, and alongside the building blocks.
Jo Guthrie is a lead teacher. She said that she couldn't recall having anyone do an egg hunt for the students. "But we are very excited, we are always happy to have volunteers to come in to help," Jo said.
When the children returned, they were given brightly colored bags, decorated with each child's name by Scout Courtney Pierce, 13.
The children took their bags and re-entered the classroom. Four-year-old Megan found a hot pink egg right away. Instead of putting it into her bag, she instead snapped it open. When she found a sticker inside, she excitedly clapped her hands, not even realizing that there were dozens more eggs to be found.The teens helped the children, pointing out hidden eggs and lending helpful encouragement when they made a find.
They may not have been on a mission to change how the public views today's teens, but their gentle help with these preschoolers certainly exposed their soft side.
On Saturday morning, the Davidsonville Ruritan Club also hosted an Easter egg hunt at their club headquarters on Davidsonville Road. This is the second year that the club has held the event. Carol Ann Sommer is the social chair and serves on the Ruritan board of directors.
"We don't make any money off of this event, we hope to break even,"she said.
They charged $5 per child, which included a hot dog lunch and a picture with the Easter bunny. There were also four tables of crafts and activities, including foam frames, paper plate bunnies, bookmarks, mazes and puzzles.
"We do this for community outreach," Carol Ann said.
President Bob Tomlinson was put to work processing the Easter bunny photos. He said that throughout the year they like to get out into the community to help wherever they can. He pointed to scholarship funds, an annual senior citizen dinner, work with local fire departments, events with the Boy and Girl Scouts, and their support of the Davidsonville Athletic Association.
Most of the money they make through the year for these activities comes from the rental of their facility and grounds. Those funds allow them to put on the events like the Easter egg hunt.
For the hunt, plastic eggs were filled with candy and hidden in the grassy field alongside the building.
The children spent about an hour eating their hot dog lunch, visiting with the Easter bunny and working on their crafts.
Then Carol Ann called them to the door by age. The littlest got their turn to hunt first, so they wouldn't be run over by the big kids. It didn't take long before all three age groups were out the door collecting their eggs.
And then, it didn't take long for the hundreds and hundreds of eggs to be scooped up. In about 15 minutes, the fields were cleared.
Sherri Burke brought her daughter Julieanna, 6. "My mom saw an ad in The Capital," Sherri said. "It took us about 30 minutes to get here, but I'm so glad we came. We really enjoyed ourselves," she said.
When asked what she most enjoyed about the event, little Julieanna admired her basket full of filled eggs and exclaimed without hesitation, "candy!"
E-mail your news to mstephenson@ capitalgazette.com.
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