Eggcitement!

That’s what people were calling the Tri-City Elks 2nd Annual Easter Egg Hunt Saturday that featured a record 200-plus children ages 2-10, 2,100 multi-colored plastic eggs and included a rather unique lesson in life centered on the ageless adage of give-and-take.

For starters, there were two Easter Egg Hunts Saturday.

The first featured children ages 2-to-5 who were armed with a variety of different size pales they hoped would be filled with multi-colored eggs that Elks volunteers scattered all over Lodge 14’s front lawn on West Shore Road.

Part Two for kids ages 6-10 was held on the backside of Lodge 14 – on the banks of “Golden Pond” – which was overflowing, as Exalted Ruler Lori Eaton noted: “a record number of children like we’ve never seen before at any of our youth activities; this is incredibly special!”

That may have been an understatement, given the fact that Lodge 14 gave away two new bicycles, 100 prizes for children, snacks and of course as Chairman Marie Cavanaugh explained from her wheelchair “all kinds of candy and goodies that were inside each egg.”

Cavanaugh, who is recovering from a serious illness that she said “interrupted my planning for this year’s Easter Egg Hunt”, explained that “two boys won the bicycles but there was so much excitement no one could get their names.”

The same sort of scenario occurred when Cavanaugh and other Elks presented prizes that coincided with tickets that were inside 100 eggs – yet as Eaton said: “Names really didn’t matter; just the smiles on the children’s faces made everyone feel really good about this year’s Easter Egg Hunt.”

In keeping with tradition, the Tri-City Elks did not – nor does Lodge 14 ever – charge for any part of the Easter Egg Hunt.

However, as Cavanaugh said, “We did ask that children who attended donate at least one non-perishable food item that this year we were collecting for a non-profit group that provides food for meals of homeless people.”

“The response to the donation request was overwhelming,” Cavanaugh said while thanking volunteers like Donna Breese who issued the fun-filled countdown for both parts of the Easter Egg Hunt and Brandi DelBonis, a.k.a. Lodge 14’s 2018 Easter Bunny. “When the representative came to pick up the food, she couldn’t believe it; we filled her vehicle with 80 pounds of (non-perishable) food items.”

Eaton, meanwhile, praised Cavanaugh and a host of volunteers for their efforts Saturday saying: “That’s what Elks do; we care and we share!”

Because Cavanaugh was limited in tie before of her health-related condition, Eaton – as she has done time and again – stepped in and summoned Elks like Joe Amoroso and his wife Lori, Christine Coleman and Steve Drager to stuff some 1,600 plastic eggs that hadn’t as yet been filled.