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By Jen Thomas and Tammy Daniels - March 23, 2008 iBerkshires Staff
Arlene Boulais and her daughter Jessica help Antoinette Dykes, 3, open her eggs in Pittsfield.View Slide Show
PITTSFIELD – Four thousand just wasn't enough.
At the 64th annual Easter egg hunt this Saturday, hundreds of city children descended on the Reid Middle School basketball court to fill their baskets with as many goodie-filled plastic eggs as they could.
Unfortunately, the 4,000 eggs used for the event couldn't accommodate the 300 to 400 kids who stopped by to get in on the action.
"Some kids just weren't able to get any at all," said Rebecca Tefft, the city's recreation activities coordinator, who organized the egg hunt.
Thankfully, a last-minute bonus round was set up to ensure that each and every child had a chance to walk away with a little something.
Kids race around in the snow in Clarksburg.
Originally conceived as an outdoor activity, the family-friendly hunt was moved to the gymnasium as the organizers learned that the school fields were too muddy for the event. Children, ranging in age from 2 to 9 years old, stormed the open court, collecting all the eggs within in seconds of leaving the starting line.
"It was just insane in here," said Ali Bourzgui, of Pittsfield, who brought his sons Driss, 1, and Ali Jr., 8.
Some of the traditional egg hunts and rolls around the county had to be moved indoors because of frigid temperatures and chilling winds. Easter was two weeks early on the calendar this year; last year, it fell on April 8.
The cold didn't stop kids from showing up for the annual egg hunt in Clarksburg. Clad in Easter egg-colored winter coats and hats, youngster spent as much time sliding across the icy snow as chasing eggs.
The hunt's been run for about 15 years by Veterans of Foriegn Wars Post 9144.
"We didn't get quite as many as we usually do, we had more last year," said Joseph Bushika, commander of the post. "It might be because of the weather," he laughed.
"It's a great pleasure to be able to do this."
Amy Smith's family's been coming for years, "even in the cold." Smith's niece, Alyssa Duncan of North Adams, was one of the lucky winners of a chocolate bunny for grabbing one of the larger eggs.
The Clarksburg hunt was separated into three age groups, with kids racing across the icy town field to grab up the scattered plastic eggs full of goodies.
One tot gets help picking up eggs at Reid Middle School.
In Pittsfield, the hunt is sponsored by the city's Parks and Recreation Department and allowed children in four different age groups to take turns gathering eggs that contained candy, temporary tattoos, rings and other small trinkets while also seeking the valued wooden eggs, which acted as a ticket for a special Easter prize.
The lucky child in each group who found the golden wooden egg had $25 donated into a Greylock Federal Youth Club savings account, courtesy of the Greylock Federal Credit Union.
Other prizes included books, egg coloring kits, chocolate bunnies and marshmallow snacks.
"It's a nice community event to celebrate the holidays and bring people out. It's nice to get out and see other people from the neighborhood," said Christine McGrath, who brought her sons, Ian, 5 and Kyle, 1.
For some, the egg hunt was just an afterthought. The main event, of course, was seeing the Easter bunny.
Plastic eggs were easy to spot on on the snow-covered town field in Clarksburg.
Maureen Kelly, of Pittsfield, said getting to meet the Easter bunny was the highlight of the trip for her girls – Rayden, 2, Skylar, 3, Janella, 5, and Jaelyn, 8.
"Rayden gave him a high-five and everything," Kelly said.
Calling the event a success, Tefft said she was glad to see everyone having a good time.
"We have the Easter egg hunt to do a fun event for the community – for the parents and for the kids," she said.
Added Chris Perry, a Parks Department employee "And it makes the kids happy."
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