Greensburg Easter Egg hunt signals return to normal

For 2-year-old Lilly Hiester, the brightly colored eggs and chocolate treats inside were just an appetizer.

Dressed in a yellow rain slicker with blue rubber boots, Lilly bounded from puddle to puddle as her parents followed behind just out of range of the water their young daughter playfully kicked up.

At the same instant, hundreds of older kids raced through the nearby grass Saturday morning at Lynch Field in Greensburg for the city’s Easter Egg hunt.

“She got four eggs and she’s happy. She had four pieces of chocolate, and now she’s running through puddles,” said mom Kristie Hiester of Greensburg.

Lilly was among the 900 kids who participated in Saturday’s hunt sponsored by Greensburg’s Parks and Recreation Department and the Greensburg Volunteer Fire Department.

It was the city’s second annual Easter Egg hunt, following a smaller-scale event last spring amid the coronavirus pandemic. The large event replaced a small hunt sponsored by several city churches as was conducted in years past at St. Clair Park.

“This is a special event for the city and brings everyone together. It’s just a way to help the kids have fun,” said Lydia Kincaid, Greensburg’s Parks and Recreation manager.

As the sun peeked out from behind the clouds three groups of children, youngsters ages 4 and under, 5 to 8-year-olds, and oldest group, 9-to-12 year-olds, raced separately across the wet, grassy field looking for more than 3,000 yellow, red, blue and green eggs stuffed with candy.

A handful of golden eggs were found that contained tickets to redeem larger prizes.

Music blared through speakers, the Easter Bunny posed for pictures with kids and adults, and frozen treats were dispensed as volunteers spread eggs throughout the field between the three sessions.

Rick Steele, president of the Greensburg Volunteer Fire Department said about 20 members and their families spent time earlier this week to stuff the candy into the eggs.

“It’s amazing to see as many people here because of the last couple of years we’ve had,” Steele said. “It’s trying to get back to a sense of normal.”

Stephanie Apjok stood along the fence line to watch as her 5-year-old son, Max, readied for his turn to find eggs with the second group of kids. Her younger son, 4-year-old Maddox, showed off his more-than-20 eggs, including one golden egg that he exchanged for bubbles.

“They really liked to get out, for sure,” Apjok said.

Kelly Perney of Hempfield, said her son, 3-year-old Jack, couldn’t be happier with the three eggs he found in his hunt.

“He had fun,” Perney said.