Children hurry to collect plastic eggs Sunday at an Easter egg hunt at Crown Park in Camas. About 2,000 people attended the free event. (Natalie Behring/The Columbian)Photo Gallery
CAMAS — Children scrambled across the grass Sunday afternoon at Crown Park, swooping up plastic Easter eggs. Parents and grandparents stood on the sidelines, capturing what they could of the chaos with their cameras or smartphones.
“He went for the middle,” Cindi Olson said while watching her 8-year-old grandson Brody Olson in the hoopla. “He’s got it. He’s getting it. … Man, look at that. They’re gone.”
It was all over in less than 60 seconds.
The free Easter egg hunt, in its 24th year, drew about 2,000 people to the park and took about 100 volunteers to pull off, Camas’ special events coordinator Krista Bashaw said.
For the Olsons, it was their first time at the egg hunt, even though Cindi Olson, now of Vancouver, grew up in Camas.
The family talked strategy before the hunt began, but Brody decided to rely on instinct.
“I just went random,” he said.
In the end, his SpongeBob bucket was filled with about two dozen eggs.
In one egg, he found a green, plastic coin.
“Crack open another one, bud,” his grandma said.
The next egg contained an eraser that looked like a football.
Brody called the egg hunt “exciting.”
“It’s good for the community, and it brings us all together on a holiday,” Cindi Olson said.
Easter hat contest
Just as the egg hunt was over, it started to rain, but several children and their families stuck around to participate in an Easter hat contest.
Seven-year-old twin sisters Graysen and Sydney Aldridge of Camas put on the hats they each decorated. Graysen’s bonnet had a stuffed rabbit on top.
“He’s sitting on his throne in the front,” she explained, while artificial grass surrounded him.
“Sydney put Peeps on hers,” the girls’ mother, Sandy Aldridge, said.
After a brief judging of the hats, the twins left with prizes for their efforts.
Perhaps the most over-the-top Easter hat belonged to 9-year-old Jessica Rose, who took first place in her age group for the third year in a row. This year, her hat was built atop a sombrero, which was loaded with Peeps, plastic eggs, jelly beans, small stuffed animals, dolls in Easter dresses, faux flowers, garland and even a string of lights.
“Last time, it was almost entirely made of Peeps,” she said. “This time, it’s Easter eggs.”
Jessica made the dresses the dolls wore herself using her new sewing machine, and everything was attached to the bonnet with hot glue. The hat was so heavy that her mother, Shelley Rose, assisted at times by holding up the back of the sombrero.
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