Hingham Recreation Center held its annual Easter Egg Hunt Saturday, sponsored by South Shore Women. The day started off bright and early as the Easter Bunny prepared its bountiful candy eggs with a little help from the Recreation Department workers finding the perfect hiding spots. Almost 3,200 eggs were set out for this year’s hunt. Given the large number of families that attended the festive event last year, the Easter Bunny made sure that every child would be able to take home his or her own mountain of eggs.

Starting promptly at nine in the morning, Hingham Residents piled into the building with the Easter Spirit in full force for a Bunny Breakfast. There were bagels and Easter themed munchkins, along with orange juice jugs and coffee for adults. There were coloring stations for kids to bring home their own little Easter bunny drawings and even a man creating fun shaped balloons out of thin air. Worker David Hoelschen-Thorne helped with the Bunny Breakfast, directing the crowds and welcoming everybody in. He expressed that “Just seeing the kids coming through the door and waiting to see the Easter Bunny is always a joy.”

The bustle of the Bunny Breakfast made it a hit as many as two-hundred people entered inside, but the most important star of the day had yet to arrive. While Hingham Residents filled up their plates with fuel before the big hunt, the Easter Bunny was hopping along to the building from laying out the eggs.

As soon as the little kids saw the bunny, the cheers erupted. A huge line formed as everybody wanted a picture with the Easter Bunny. Blaine Wiley, another worker at the Hingham Recreation Center, reflected on her own enthusiasm from when she was a kid during Easter Egg Hunts, “I thought it was so cool families could engage with the community with this fun, annual, event, especially that it was for free because it makes it possible for anyone and everyone to go! Seeing all the kids get excited to find eggs and take pictures with the Easter Bunny made me so happy and reminded me of when I was younger.” Program Supervisor Michael Benard made sure everything went smoothly as parents snapped pictures of their festive kids sitting with the bunny and treated with sweet lollipops after.

As time neared ten in the morning, antsy kids began to make their way across the frozen tundra (the recreational center fields) towards the playground where they would find candy treasures. When Mike Benard made the call for the start of the hunt, the place cleared out in minutes. Brown wicker baskets and pink and blue plastic pails swung from the kids hands as they trudged through the fields with excitement. Worker and Hingham High School Senior, Riley McDermott, helped out in the fields and enthused “It’s amazing to see all of the kids get so excited and running around having fun. I would definitely recommend it to parents around the town.” Not only did the kids pile their baskets high with candy, but they worked off some pent up energy. Every child came through with a mountain of eggs as expected. The Easter Bunny’s helpers stood around helping to navigate through the snow where some of the eggs lay hidden.

What looked like a bit of a chilly day, thankfully turned into the perfect conditions. Slowly, families vacated the fields with their kids in tow and smiles all around. Mike Benard summed up the grand day as “It was great to see so many families dressed up, baskets in hand, trudging across a snowy field to take part in one of my favorite Hingham events. Every Year, I look forward to the Annual Rec Egg Hunt. Even snow and chilly air couldn’t hold back the fun. For a little while, Spring was here and we were all taking part.” The closing of another successful and extravagant event ended with smiling children, happy parents, and a job well done by the Hingham Recreational Easter Bunny until next year.