Easter eggs hunted in Newton

Newton — Children ages 1 through 8 stood wide-eyed and ready to run as the count over the loud speaker at Memory Park sounded off “5, 4, 3, 2, 1!” last Saturday. Their goal? To fill their baskets with as many plastic Easter eggs and pieces of candy as possible as quick as, well, a rabbit. Tom Trudgeon, Recreation Supervisor for Newton, was on hand to do the countdown and make sure that everything went smoothly. “We have more than 2,000 plastic eggs stuffed with either candy or toys, and then an additional 5,000 pieces of candy,” explained Trudgeon. The children were split into age groups: 1- and 2- year-olds, 3- and 4-year-olds, kindergarteners, and first and second graders. Each “hunting ground” had three eggs with a first, second and third prize slips in them. Winners received either a small, medium or large chocolate bunny, and afterwards, those who weren’t a little timid, had their photo taken with the Easter Bunny himself. After the hunt, all the children had the opportunity for a photo with the Easter bunny. Polaroids were distributed of the children’s bunny moment, and the White Rabbit had a friend visiting with the kids, too — Scooter Skyhawk, the Sussex Skyhawk’s mascot, let them pose with him and handed out promotional Frisbees. In the youngest group the first prize went unclaimed. Trudgeon is holding the prize in case the winner calls to claim it. Second and third prizes went to Zachary Loch and Julia Fanning. For the 3- and 4-year-olds: first prize winner was Morgyn Witt, second Justin Heller, and third Ciara Peselli. In the Kindergarten group, first prize went to Calvin Grigal, second to Kylie Brandt, and third to Kaitlan Green. The final group was the first and second graders with first place going to Jennifer Compana, second to Emily Sellards, and third to Sarah Dudes. The recreation department urges the parents of the child with the first prize slip for the 1- to 2-year-old group to call 973-383-3521.