Over 20,000 eggs were waiting for thousands of egg hunters Saturday morning at Central Park in Saugus.
The city of Santa Clarita invited the community to Eggstravaganza, a free event with several Easter egg hunts, spring crafts, games and photo opportunities with Mr. E. Bunny. If you showed up at the park at the 10 a.m. scheduled start time, you would’ve had a difficult time finding parking.
“We got here at 9:20,” said Santa Clarita resident Victoria Patino, who came with her cousin and their kids. “We’ve gone to egg hunts at the church with the family, but nothing like this. Nothing this big.”
According to Kyle Lopez, event supervisor for the city of Santa Clarita, Eggstravaganza is always a popular event. Last year’s event took place at the Canyon Country Community Center due to the rain, she said, and the event was great, but she was glad to have it back outside, especially with such great weather on Saturday.
“We’re always looking to provide fun, free opportunities for the community,” she said. “This is one of those ones that just really celebrates the essence of spring and gets the community out for some fun with their family.”
The city scrambled the egg hunting by age groups so that hunters could compete with others their own age. But the number of hunts, Lopez said, also allowed Eggstravaganza to be spread out through the morning.
Organizers set up what they called “egg scrambles,” in which egg hunters ages 1 to 3 competed on one field, those who were 6 to 7 on another field, and then they also had hunts for kids ages 4 to 5 and kids ages 8 to 10.
Those waiting for their time slot could participate in various other activities and games. Some families brought footballs and soccer balls to play in the open fields. Others had picnics in the park or set up blankets to hang out until it was time for them to hunt.
The city offered an inclusive egg scramble area for children with special needs, allowing all kids a chance to participate at their own pace.
According to Sherry Stephens, an instructional assistant for the city, the inclusion egg scramble had a great turnout and an even better response from guests.
“Parents are very happy that we’re here,” Stephens said. “We’re kind of back out of the way, and the kids don’t have to jump in with all that excitement. They can come back here and have their own time, their quiet time. It’s not a rush.”
The Santa Clarita Valley Food Pantry had a tent at the event for guests to bring nonperishable food items for local families in need. Those who donated could spin a basket of plastic eggs, pick one and win a prize. Families were lined up to participate and prizes were running out an hour into the event.
Rachel Compton, community development director for the food pantry, said she was seriously considering running down to the store to get more goodies to give away.
The line for pictures with the Easter Bunny spanned half the field. But it seemed to be moving quickly.
Traffic out of the park didn’t move so fast. Families, however, all seemed to be in good spirits as they got their Easter weekend started.
