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A girl gathers egg at Lyons’ Easter Egg Hunt.
By Steve Metsch
Five-year-old Xander Young was justifiably proud of his first time running with the big kids at the annual Easter Egg Hunt sponsored Sunday by the village of Lyons.
“I liked it because there were prizes inside,” he said of each plastic egg.
A couple of dozen eggs were in the stroller occupied by Phoenix, Xander’s 16-month-old brother.
Village employees and volunteers had spent hours putting little toys and candies in each of the 12,000 eggs that were spread across a field at Cermak Park, 7701 W. Ogden Ave.
It took the kids maybe five minutes to gather all the eggs in bags, baskets and pockets.
Coupons in select eggs entitled the bearers to get one of the 30 Easter baskets filled with goodies.
The hunt is split into two parts.
One half is for children age 4 and younger. The other is for age 5 and older. That’s where Xander was, running at top speed across the field as he avoided being trampled.
Xander and Phoenix were with their parents, Shannon and Billy Young. The family walked over from their house on Maple Avenue.
“This is our fourth time here,” Shannon said. “It’s great. (Xander) just graduated to the big kids.”
She expects Phoenix to join Xander in next year’s hunt. “He’s walking now, but he’s wobbly,” she said.
Billy also enjoyed the event: “It’s a nice little get together they do for everybody.”
Lyons Parks & Recreation Director Ted Tala called the event a success.
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About 12,000 plastic Easter eggs, each with a prize inside, were gathered in roughly five minutes.
“We had 450 (free) hot dogs. That’s the gauge. If the hot dogs go in five minutes, we’ll know we had about 400 people here,” Tala said.
The annual egg hunt, held on Palm Sunday each year, “is kind of the kick-off to spring,” Tala said.
“It’s for the kids. The parents do a good job of letting them do their thing,” said Tala, who was holding Theo, his young son.
Lyons Village Trustee Dan Hilker, bundled up for the 37-degree weather, was glad families had fun.
“It’s nice for the village. Something for the kids to do. The weather semi cooperated today,” he said.
“All the parents can come out for the Easter Egg Hunt, then go home and watch the March Madness (basketball games),” Hilker added.
Lyons Mayor Christopher Getty said “the volunteers did a great job in setting up the egg hunt.”
“It’s cold, got a little windy, but it’s all good. A tremendous number of children showed up. It’s a great time,” Getty added.