On the Saturday morning before Easter, fog and light rain didn’t hinder the 20-year tradition of a good old-fashioned family egg hunt in Lake Forest.
Hundreds gathered at the newly renovated Deerpath Community Park, at 400 Hastings Road to take part in Egg Hunt Eggstravaganza 2025, an annual event hosted by Lake Forest Parks and Recreation.
Lake Forest Park Center, program manager, Aaron Dalzot, said, “The Bunny, with the help of Lake Forest Park District and Recreation staff, laid out over 9,000 treat-filled eggs, for this seasonal celebration which included age-tiered egg hunt times, a balloon artist and photos with the Bunny.”
“We like to bring families together for this popular free spring event to enjoy our newly renovated park,” Dalzot added.
This year’s Egg Hunt Eggstravaganza was sponsored by Grins on Green Bay Pediatric Dentistry.
The egg hunt kicked off from 9 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. with a kindergarten and under hunt and continued at 9:45 a.m. to 10:15 a.m. with a hunt for 1st through 4th graders.
Lauren Crowley of Lake Forest attended with her family.
“We just love this egg hunt event and have attended the last three years in a row. This year it’s great to be outside where the kids can run free on the new turf field, last year the event was held inside the middle school,” Crowley said.
Participants also had an opportunity to locate one of eight winning golden eggs, which entitled them to an Easter basket prize filled with special goodies.
“We haven’t been outside for this event since Spring 2020, and now with our synthetic turf field, which prevents flooding, not even the weather can dampen the fun,” Dalzot said.
Athletic program manager, Anthony Anaszewicz says the turf field is used for a variety of Lake Forest Parks and Recreation sports and athletic activities.
“The field is made of organic infills of treated pine wood, rather than rubber– the turf is actually laid on top of a shock pad that can reduce potential injuries, in addition to its ability to combat the weather,” Anaszewicz said.
Russell Gleisner says he and his family have been residents of Lake Forest for one year.
“We are here to celebrate with the community and friends, and Lake Forest Parks and Recreation does such a great job at providing a number of holiday events, we have been happy and excited to participate in all of them,” Gleisner said.
Matt Liddy of Lake Forest attended Saturday with family.
“We always come out for the egg hunt, it’s something that we look forward to doing as a family every year,” Liddy said.
Gina Grillo is a freelancer for Pioneer Press.
