Sun shines on Plains egg hunt

It might have been the biggest crowd ever for the annual Easter Egg Hunt at the Plains community park on Sunday, put on by the Plains Lions Club and the Plains Assembly of God Church on the Move.

Nearly 400 people packed the park, including around 160 children, who participated in the Easter Egg Hunt. Once again, the Easter Bunny – aka Adam Aguilera this year – roamed through the crowd getting hugs and pictures taken with kids and adults alike.

"It was a very good turnout and it went smooth," said Duane Highcrane, president of the Plains Lions Club. Most of the attendees were from Plains, but there were also people from Noxon, Trout Creek, Thompson Falls, Paradise, and Missoula.

"I think it was the busiest year," said Lions Club Vice President Steve Spurr, who helped hand out prizes during the hour-long event.

The Church on the Move "99 Youth Group" put out over 4,000 plastic eggs on the park lawn, a task that took the group two and a half hours to accomplish Sunday morning. The Lions Club started the Easter Egg Hunt more than 40 years ago. The Church on the Move had been conducting its own event for about 20 years, before teaming up with the Lions three years ago.

This year, the kids were divided into five age groups – 0-2, 3-4, 5-6, 7-8, and 9-10. The event began with a miscommunication between the emcee, Jason Cuddy, and the parents. The kids were supposed to search for the eggs one age group at a time, but when the youngest group was given the green light, the 3-4 and 5-6-year-olds also took off and they could not be stopped. The rest of the age groups went according to plan.

For the most part, the eggs were hidden in plain sight. The youngest group of kids had a lot of help from parents and other family members. The oldest group of kids – 44 of them – had a much larger area and many of the eggs were hidden in the playground equipment.

The youth group and several church members filled the eggs days before the event, mostly with candy. Congregation members donated $100 worth of quarters to put inside the eggs. In addition, inside one egg of the 5-6 and 7-8-year-olds was a notice that the egg holder was a winner of a new bike, compliments of the First Security Bank. Brian Crain, the branch manager, was on hand to give the kids their bike gift certificates.

Dozens of prizes were donated by the Mangy Moose and Mountain West Clothing and Easter baskets were once again donated by Quinn's Hot Springs Resort. Jessica Peterson, a member of Church on the Move, set up a photo booth, where people could get photos of their kids.

Winners of the bikes were Isaiah Schertz, 8, of Missouri, visiting his great-grandparents, Dick and Judy Williams of Plains, and Kinsley Josephson, 6, of Plains. Winners of the raffle Easter baskets, which was a drawing for kids and adults, included: Plains residents Megan Beason, Pat Killgore, and Jersey VonHeeder, 9, along with Taitum Ellis, 6, of Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, and Jason Cox of Missoula, who is pastor of the United Methodist Churches in Paradise, Plains and Whitepine.

"This turned out perfect and the weather was great. The relationship between the Lions and the church is really great," said Spurr. "The kids were very orderly when they came up to pick up prizes and nobody got out of hand," said Highcrane. "They really enjoyed it and were very enthusiastic," he added.

The Lions Club raised about $500 in its raffle at the event. Spurr said the raffle money goes to pay for part of the salary of the lifeguard at the kiddie pool, which was built around 1950 and is maintained by the Lions Club. Each year, the Lions also host a Halloween event, put Christmas decorations up during the holidays and gives free eye scanning exams to students throughout the county. The club celebrates its 75th anniversary this year.