Annual Easter Egg Hunt at Kings Park West Draws Children and Families

After being rained out on Saturday, Kings Park West had their annual Easter egg hunt on Sunday afternoon, with approximately 40 children in attendance.

The hunt took place at Lakeside Park, which sits on the edge of Royal Lake. With a playground and a walking trail as well as soccer fields and a basketball court, the park is a popular recreational area for Kings Park West residents of all ages. The Easter egg hunt was divided into two sections; one for toddlers who were between one and three years old, and one for children ages four to six.

 The section for toddlers was very small and free of trees so that they could be easily assisted and supervised by their parents.

“The community events in Kings Park West were one of the draws for moving into this neighborhood,” resident Heather Wheat said.

The Wheat family enjoys being able to take their two and a half year old daughter to the Easter egg hunt. It was their first year participating in the event, as they felt their daughter was too young last year. The Wheat family also brought their young son, who observed all of the action from the comfort of his stroller.

The section for older children was slightly larger than the section for toddlers, and contained more trees. Ian, a first grader at Laurel Ridge Elementary, said that he loves finding eggs at the Easter egg hunt.

“My favorite egg is the silver one,” he said, proudly showing off a large, shiny egg in his basket.

Some of the children strayed from the main hunting area in hopes of finding well-hidden eggs.

“I feel like I should have a leash for my brother,” a young lady named Anna joked. “I have no idea where he went.”

Despite there being many eggs for the children to find, the hunt was over very quickly. It took approximately ten minutes from start to finish, as each child were determined to get more eggs than their competitors. Once all of the eggs were found, the Kings Park West Civic Association had large tubs available so that the empty eggs could be returned and reused next year.

The Kings Park West Easter Egg Hunt does not require a registration, and has no admission fee. None of the committee members of the Kings Park West Civic Association know for sure how many years this event has taken place, though it has definitely been over two decades.

“I have been in the community for 25 years and there has been one all that time," Committee member Tony Vellucci said. "[There has been one] most likely since the civic association first commenced operations.”