Isabel Amezquita
Staff Writer
The La Verne community hosted its annual family and pet-friendly Easter egg hunt event on Saturday, allowing residents to enjoy a morning out with family and friends.
Located in Las Flores Park at Bolling Avenue, roughly 200 visitors gathered to celebrate the holiday by having picnics, enjoying music from all genres playing on the speakers, and helping out the little ones hunt for eggs full of chocolates, Jolly Ranchers and stickers.
City staff and volunteers helped by providing goody bags and eggs for children of all ages. Event volunteer Craig Rubin, president of the La Verne Rotary Club, said that seeing people smile is what really mattered to him.
“This is the first event after COVID because COVID interrupted it,” Rubin said. “Seeing all the kids and everyone get candy really made me smile today, and the parents loved it too.”
Rubin added that minor obstacles had to be overcome.
“One obstacle that we faced was knowing how many eggs were needed since the candy bags each have different amounts,” Rubin said. “We ended up getting 4,000 eggs and the candy I got by the pound, so it was hard to tell, but we figured it out.”
Though the egg hunt was the main attraction, many enjoyed dancing to the music playing, and photo ops with the Easter bunny.
Dogs were also allowed to partake in the festivities.
Kids especially loved getting to participate in the egg hunt as there were over 4,000 eggs scattered around the grass. They ran around picking out the colors they wanted to take home in their baskets.
Rotary club member and La Verne City Council candidate Steve Johnson said the event never gets old.
“We always have a good crowd, and always do this at two different parks in La Verne,” Johnson said. “We even set away some candy if kids show up late. Getting to watch the youngest kids that come out here is so fun to watch.”
Jake Garcia, 7, of La Verne, said he usually does egg hunts at his house.
“I don’t have brothers or sisters and do egg hunts at my house every year, but coming today was really fun because I was able to play with new kids like at school, but on a Saturday,” Garcia said.
Alan Longoria, of San Dimas, said he was not planning on attending the event but was glad he did.
“I originally thought coming to events like these would be boring,” Longoria said. “I decided to bring my little 4-year-old cousin here because I had nothing else to do, but I actually had fun with him because I was able to help him pick out eggs … to take home and share. I actually think we got to bond a little more today.”
Isabel Amezquita can be reached at isabel.amezquita@laverne.edu
Isabel Amezquita, a senior English major and communications minor, is a staff writer for the Campus Times.
