In search of fun

Jenny Marder

Smells of fresh grass mingled with the sounds of children’s laughter

and the taste of dark chocolate Saturday at the city’s 14th annual

Easter Festival.

About 5,000 people celebrated Easter early at Huntington Beach

Central Park.

Children with faces painted and bunny ears climbed in and out of

fire trucks and police cars, fraternized with Sparky the fire dog,

had their pictures taken with the Easter bunny and tried their hands

at a round of games.

A favorite was the sponge toss, a game that delights children and

confounds parents. The premise of the game: Children stick their head

through a hole and someone throws a wet sponge at their face.

“All they do is get hit with a wet sponge,” said Dottie Hughes,

the city’s recreational supervisor. “I don’t see why they love it so

much but they do.”

With 1,300 pounds of candy and thousands of toys, the Easter

celebration was the biggest yet, Hughes said.

“This year they had 1,000 coloring books that they handed out and

they had to go out and get more,” Hughes said. “So it’s getting

bigger each year.”

Five-year-old Tabitha Butler called it the best day of her life.

Her favorite part of the hunt was the candy and the Mardi

Gras-style beads, said her grandmother, Jennifer Butler.

“I can’t get those off her now,” she said.

But of course, the all-time favorite for most children were the

hunts.

The Huntington Beach Easter egg hunt is a little misleading. There

are no actual eggs. But no one seems to mind.

A grassy area is blocked off by a circular fence where volunteers

scatter candy before each hunt. As soon as the clock strikes the

scheduled time, the gates are opened to unleash the throng of waiting

children. Most return home with a basket full of toys.

“We did eggs once and it was impossible,” Hughes said. “Somebody

has to fill all those eggs with candy. “It’s just easier to throw the

candy.”

Their were four hunts Saturday for children of different ages.

There was a hunt for children with special needs, followed by

toddlers 2 and under, then 3 and 4 year olds, 5 and 6 year olds and

finally, 7, 8 and 9 year olds.

“It’s a no-lose event,” Hughes said. “You can’t go wrong with this

event because all the kids were happy.”