1,200 children, ages 2 to 10, participated in Community Egg Hunt

The search was on.

Carrboro resident Lori Hoopes brought her daughters Gigi Hoopes, 8, and Evie Hoopes, 5, to the Community Egg Hunt at Homestead Park Saturday .

It was their second time going to the event. Hoopes said she noticed the egg hunt’s hectic atmosphere and large crowd.

“Everybody’s like, ‘I have to wrangle children,’” Hoopes said.

Gigi and Evie said they both had fun at the event. Evie said she only found three eggs during her hunt, but Gigi found about 20 and gave some to her sister.

“I liked having the excitement of finding a lot of eggs and seeing what was inside,” Gigi said.

Amanda Fletcher, assistant supervisor of festivals and community celebrations for the Chapel Hill Parks and Recreation department, said she estimated there were about 1,200 people at the event.

Program Assistant Amy Stibich said this was her first year working at the egg hunt, but she was prepared for the large crowd.

“It has a reputation — people know about it,” she said.

The event featured three egg hunts, each of which lasted about 15 minutes. The hunts were broken up by age groups.

The plastic eggs were laid out in fields for children to pick up. Overall, more than 25,000 eggs were used.

Stibich said Chapel Hill’s Parks and Recreation department collaborates with the Carrboro and Orange County departments to hold the egg hunt. Every three years it is held in Chapel Hill.

“So now it’s our year,” she said. “It’s one of the few events we collaborate on with the other departments.”

Stibich said the eggs were ordered from Sunny Bunny, a company known for providing employment to adults with disabilities. All three town departments purchase the eggs.

“Everyone pitches in and buys the eggs and prizes,” she said.

Karina Goco , an eighth-grade student at McDougle Middle School, and Jessika Patel , a ninth-grade student at Chapel Hill High School, worked as volunteers at the egg hunt through the Chapel Hill Youth Council.

They said part of their duties involved setting up for the event.

“We had to put out some of the eggs on the field,” Goco said.

Goco and Patel said they were also tasked with helping supervise the egg hunts to make sure everything went according to plan.

Both volunteers said they enjoyed watching the children participate in the hunt.

“It was fun,” Patel said.

Evie said she enjoyed observing the festivities as well as participating in them.

“Getting to watch the egg hunt was awesome,” she said.

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