The Easter Bunny has perhaps never received such a warm reception as he did last Saturday morning in Johnston.

Even before the iconic Easter figure arrived at the Johnston Senior Center, proud parents, grandparents, aunts, and uncles waited patiently in line to have their pictures taken with the bunny.

“People just kept coming in and in,” Mike Bedrosian, a supervisor with the presenting Johnston Parks and Recreation Department, said of the fun-filled, two-hour event. “People really, really enjoyed themselves and in some cases stayed the whole time. This is a great place for this event.”

It was estimated that 250-plus people took part in the “Breakfast with the Easter Bunny,” which included the parks department treating young and old alike to a variety of muffins, pastry, and juice.

“This was definitely one of the best Easter events we’ve ever had,” said Bedrosian, a former standout athlete at Johnston High School. “It was much, much better than last year when we had this in the [recreation] office.”

Families with children of all ages filled almost every available space inside the center’s spacious multi-purpose room, where children had their photos taken with the Easter Bunny and received chocolate eggs and bunnies from Nicole Cournoyer, a new supervisor with the parks department.

“There was, however, one downside to this year’s Easter Bunny event,” Bedrosian noted with a smile. “We ran out of food pretty quickly, but that was a good sign. It was really great to see such support for what is obviously a terrific tradition here in Johnston.”

Even the Easter Bunny – a.k.a. Andrew Zalisk, who is a standout basketball player at Johnston High School – did what Bedrosian and people like senior center Assistant Director Millie Santilli, her husband John Santilli, and District I Town Councilman Richard DelFino III called “a great job with all the children.”

For DelFino and his wife Arianna, the day was a double celebration. It was the first Easter for their first child, Richard DelFino IV, and he had the first picture taken with the Easter bunny.