BRADENTON BEACH – Kids swarmed onto the beach at the Anna Maria Island Moose Lodge Saturday for the annual Easter egg hunt searching for 1,000 brightly colored plastic eggs.
Upon arrival at Moose Lodge #2188, the youngsters were given felt Easter baskets to place their finds in during the ensuing egg hunt. Each basket contained bunny ears for the children to wear, a small toy, a plush toy and candy.
The children then gathered under the covered porch facing the Gulf of Mexico. When addressing the children before the hunt began, AMI Moose Lodge Senior Regent Joy Shames said, “There are plenty of eggs. Don’t knock people over, and have fun.”
Shortly after 10 a.m., about 50 kids divided into two age groups made simultaneous dashes in pursuit of the candy-filled eggs assembled by the Women of the Moose volunteers.
Children 5 years old and younger quickly discovered and grabbed the 500 eggs lying in plain view atop the sand. Those 6 years old and up had to work a little harder to find the 500 eggs partially buried in the sand in their separate Easter egg hunting area.
When asked about the day’s festivities, Shames said, “We are having an Easter egg hunt for all these wonderful children of the Moose members.”
After the Easter egg hunt, the children came inside for additional festivities that included a contest in which each youngster was asked to guess how many jellybeans were in a jar. The winner in each of the three age groups won that jar full of jellybeans.
The children were also treated to a free lunch of chicken tenders, French fries and juice boxes, and 10 of the lunch baskets were marked with a surprise blue dot on the bottom which earned that child a small bag of Russell Stover candies.
“Happy Easter and God bless the kids,” Women of the Moose volunteer Sam Watters said as the inside festivities continued.
