Seven-year-old Lukus Kowalski of Hubbard dutifully stuffed SweetTarts, Twix bars, Tootsie Rolls and Double Bubble gum into Easter eggs.
When his mom, Marie, was asked how she was keeping Lukus from eating the candy, she said she didn’t know. Maybe it was the pizza that was served to the egg stuffers.
Hadleigh Fox, left, who is 7, and Hayleigh Fox, 10, stuff Easter eggs for in preparation for Six Fourteen Church’s Easter egg hunt. The girls live in Hubbard.
The Kowalskis are among the members of Six Fourteen Church in Masury, who spent time after church March 18 preparing for the March 31 Easter egg hunt at Brookfield schools, 614 Bedford Road.
But, there’s another egg hunt in town, and it’s happening Saturday – Brookfield Township’s annual hunt at the administration building, 6844 Strimbu Drive.
“It grows every year,” said Kathy Ferrara of Brookfield, a volunteer egg stuffer working Thursday.
“We average 75 to 125 kids,” said Police Chief Dan Faustino, who has organized the township hunt for several years. “We had one year, we had almost 200 kids here. It’s a good community event.”
Faustino leans on Brookfield High School students for volunteer help. Juniors Stevie Olek and Jarrett Johnson of the school’s Interact Club stuffed eggs and organized baskets, and several others will be on hand Saturday, Faustino said.
Helpers for Brookfield Township’s Easter egg hunt are, from left, Chris Gantler, Gail Faustino, Leslie Faustino, Kathy Ferrara, Stevie Olek and Jarrett Johnson.
Jarrett will play the Easter bunny, hot off his role as McGruff the Crime Dog at Safety Night in October.
“It’s sweaty, stuffy,” Jarrett said of his McGruff costume. “I couldn’t see anything. They had to lead me around.”
But, he doesn’t mind giving up his personal comfort for a while to hop down the bunny trail.
“I don’t really say ‘no’ very often,” he said.
The hunt starts at 10 a.m., with the weather determining whether it is held inside or outside.
While Faustino had no idea how many eggs his crew would fill, Jared Woodward knows how many Six Fourteen Church parishioners filled – 15,000.
Owen Burke, 3, of Niles, drops a Tootsie roll into an Easter egg at Six Fourteen Church, Masury.
Although Easter is the holiest day in the Christian year, signifying the resurrection of Jesus, Woodward, the church’s pastor, has no hesitation in embracing the secular side of the season.
“We just want to let the community know that we’re here and we care,” he said. “We want to add to our community, however we can do that.”
This is the second year the church has hosted the hunt in Masury, an event it transferred from its former site in Liberty.
“Everyone loves egg hunts,” Woodward said. “There’s lots of kids. This is one of our biggest events of the year.”
