Braving the wind and rain, Evanston children carrying rainbow baskets took over the Ladd Arboretum on Saturday for the city’s annual Egg Hunt for Easter.
Four waves of egg hunts throughout the day brought about 60 registered children to each, accompanied by parents and grandparents, said Margaret Isaacson, the city’s conservation and outdoors division manager. The event has been running for at least 15 years, she added.
“It gives folks an opportunity to celebrate and get together,” Isaacson said. “The kids get to explore the programs that we have here as well as enjoy a family-friendly event.”
The event was organized by the Evanston Ecology Center, a part of the department of Parks and Recreation that focuses on connecting community members with nature through programs like the Egg Hunt.
Fifth Ward resident and parent Ayla DeBosschere said she’s been attending the event for years because she enjoys getting out of the house to support the Ecology Center and the community.
This year, the event was moved from Eggleston Park to the Arboretum, located across the street from the park.
“This is way more nature-based,” DeBosschere said. “The one across the street is on a playground so (the Arboretum’s) not as big, which I like, and it’s sheltered.”
The participating children in each round hunted for a total of about 750 eggs and two golden eggs. They also enjoyed a marshmallow roasting station, photo booth, game area and nature scavenger hunt.
As the groups prepared to collect the eggs, a volunteer set the scene, telling the children that a “wood duck” had scattered her eggs over the Arboretum and needed their help returning them to her nest: a kiddie pool waiting to be filled. At the end of each hunt, volunteers handed out goodie bags.
By the end of the event, all the eggs were in one basket.
Isaacson emphasized that the egg hunt was uniquely “eco-friendly,” as it used wooden eggs in place of plastic eggs. Volunteers replaced all the plastic eggs with hand-painted wooden eggs several years ago, she added.
In the games area, volunteers and staff sat at a table displaying animal pelts, bird skulls and nests, inviting children to explore the natural specimens up close.
Like DeBosschere, 5th Ward resident Brad Donahue has long attended the Egg Hunt, but said he enjoys seeing his neighbors discover the event for the first time.
“These events are great,” Donahue said. “This is one of the best parts of living in Evanston, that they do programming like this, and it’s a good way to just get outside and do community events.”
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