Hidden Easter treasures

Alice Campbell Havre Daily News [email protected]

Havre-area children will scavenge two local parks for Easter eggs this weekend. The Eagles Club and Jaycees will sponsor one hunt at the Eagles Park and a party to follow at the Eagles Club, and the Optimist Club will sponsor another hnut at Optimist Park. About 10 years ago, "we felt that there had to be more for kids," Eagles manager Tom Farnham said, adding, "we just felt like it was something we had to do for tomorrow's future." Saturday at 1 p.m., there will be 2,000 candy-filled eggs, hidden earlier in the day in the park by Jaycee members, for children grouped by ages 0-3, 4-6 and 7-12 to find, egg-hunt chairwoman Ruby Christian said. The child who finds a sea/ Nemo theme egg wins a special prize that can be collected at the Eagles party afterward. The Easter Bunny will also make an appearance during the hunt and at the party. "They collect prizes, then the Eagles provide them with food, fun and games along with a beverage," Farnham said. The games at the Eagles Club will include musical chairs, bobbing for apples and a relay race. "It should be fun," Carrie Dickson, party coordinator for the event, said. Optimist Club members take a more traditional route and boil and dye real eggs for the egg hunt they sponsor that will begin at 1 p.m. Sunday. This year, 3,000 eggs have been boiled, and dyeing will take place tonight at 6 p.m. at Saddle Butte Custom Smoking. Anyone is welcome to bring their children and join in. Even with such a large number of eggs, it "takes them about an hour to dye them all," club member Lisa Ophus said. "We just do food coloring, and we get those big coffee cans," she added. Every child who participates will receive a prize after the egg hunt. The participants will be broken into age groups of 0-3, 4-6 and 7-9 for the hunt. The event that has been going on for "many years" will take place rain or shine.