Above / Waiting patiently while hundreds of kids raced to pick up colored eggs, the Easter Bunny was prepared for a Meet & Greet in Frontier Park. Reportedly introduced to America in the 1700s by German immigrants, the Easter Bunny, folks could say, has been present at an egg-traordinarily large number of photo ops over the years!
Question: How does a kid get all his eggs in one basket?
Answer: With a little help from the Naperville Jaycees during its annual Easter Egg Hunt at 9AM on the Saturday before Easter Sunday at Frontier Sports Complex.
For nearly 40 years, volunteers from the Naperville Jaycees have served on a committee in advance of its annual Easter Egg Hunt to plan and prepare for the special event designed for ages 1-8, as it has hopped from one local park to another.
Not long after sunrise on April 18, members began arriving at Frontier Park, a sports complex built in 1996 at 3380 Cedar Glade Drive, where the Jaycees Easter Egg Hunt appears to have found a permanent home in recent years. To set up, volunteers placed directional signs and sponsor banners on fences and spread the colorful plastic eggs stuffed with prizes over the outfields of four softball fields.
Under sunny-side-up skies and a temperature barely above freezing, hundreds of families began arriving about 8:30AM. Youngsters stepped up to the start lines according to age, raring, ready and set to go at 9AM sharp.
Then the annual scramble began.
Sounds of cheers, laughter and “I got one!” and “Here’s one!” resonated from one softball field to another throughout the park. Youngsters gathered from one egg to dozens to fill baskets, bookbags, pumpkin-shaped totes or plastic shopping bags.
And within minutes the outfields that had been dotted with thousands of colored eggs were history for another year.
For first-time attendees learning the ropes of hunting eggs, the “eggs-perience” taught them to open the plastic eggs, look for a treat or prize, and if a “Golden Ticket” were inside, to head to the pavilion where the Jaycees were giving out prizes in exchange for a “Golden Ticket.”
Immediately following the hunt, families also lined up so children could take a crack at smiling while meeting the Easter Bunny for a photo.
Once again, the cost of the free-for-kids-to-participate event was covered by sponsors, to which the Jaycees “egg-spressed egg-streme” gratitude.
Jaycees also appreciated many “egg-ceptional” nonperishable items donated by many families for a local food bank, all loaded in the back of a pickup truck.
“Eggs-tra” recycling bins were present to collect plastic eggs, now half shells and empty, to be refilled and refitted again for next year on Sat., April 8, 2023. Save the date. And don’t be late!
Naperville Jaycees
The Naperville Jaycees is a nonprofit service organization dedicated to personal development through community service. The organization provides Naperville area residents with the opportunity to better themselves and to grow personally and professionally while giving through volunteer community service and philanthropy.
Best known for their annual four-day Last Fling held Labor Day weekend along Jackson Avenue and the Riverwalk, their fundraising efforts help the Naperville Jaycees donate funds to nonprofit organizations in the community and throughout DuPage County.
Since 1984, the Naperville Jaycees also have raised funds in support of several amenities along the Riverwalk, including Jaycees Marina, Jaycees Playground, Jaycees Gazebo and Jaycees Park.
For more info about membership, monthly meetings, projects and all things accomplished throughout the year in the name of community service by the Naperville Jaycees, visit naperjaycees.org.
Editor’s Note / Thanks to the Naperville Jaycees for their many contributions of can-do spirit to the community. And to all, rest, relax and rejoice in many stories of faith, hope and charity on Easter Sunday when families gather to host egg hunts, brunches or dinner. Peace.
