Hundreds attend Wiscasset Easter egg hunt

Sun, 04/17/2022 - 8:45am

Hundreds of kids gathered under an overcast sky, eagerly waiting for the Wiscasset Easter Egg Hunt to start on April 16. “This is the 23rd year we’ve held the Easter egg hunt; 2020 was the only year we didn’t hold it,” said Programs & Facilities Manager Bob MacDonald. “Luckily, we were able to hold it last year, and now this year.”

Recreation Programmer Chelsea Taylor said about 6,000 eggs were scattered across the field; 4,000 contained candy; 2,000 contained small prizes; and 15 held tickets for stuffed animals. “Everyone gets a raffle ticket to win a big bunny at the end,” Taylor added.

There was mounting excitement as families started arriving at the Wiscasset Middle High School track. There were tall 11-year olds, babies in strollers, and all ages in between. Taylor said the field was divided into three sections for different age groups so that small children would not have to compete with the older kids.

Jade Bergeron and daughter Acadia, 6, came from Dresden for the event. Acadia is a first grader at Dresden Elementary School. “Go Dresden Dragons!” her friend shouted as they looked for the best spot to start the hunt from.

Katie Carlton was there with children Chloe, 6, and Avery, 5 months. So this was baby Avery’s first Easter egg hunt.

MacDonald addressed the excited crowd as a few more families made their way to the registration table. The Easter Bunny arrived via fire truck to take photos with children and help MacDonald count down to the start of the hunt.

The hunt was over in minutes. “It takes so long to set up, and it’s all over so fast,” said Taylor. Jalise Boucher and her children Mavis, 4, Soonafi, 2, and Zaya, 1, sat down to start sorting through their eggs for candy and prize tickets as soon as the hunt was over.

After the hunt, Taylor announced the winner of the raffle was Jaxson Nichols, 8. When asked if he was going to name his new bunny, he said, “I don’t know yet!”