For Easter Eggs, Kids Really Hop To It Thousands Of Pastel Orbs Scooped Up In Minutes At Riverfront Park Scramble

It was over in five minutes.

In a mad scramble for Easter eggs, hundreds of kids scooped up 8,500 of them at Saturday’s Riverfront Park egg hunt.

Armed with plastic bags and baskets, they stood in four giant circles by age group - all waiting anxiously to jump in and grab the eggs littered inside the ring.

“One, two, three, go!” Like elite runners at Bloomsday, they dashed past one another and straight to the pastel orbs.

“I’m going to run out there and get whatever egg I want,” said 5-year-old Billy Musgrove, who came to the event with his grandmother, Lacey.

This year’s annual egg hunt wouldn’t have happened at all if it weren’t for KNFR, a local radio station known as “The Frog.”

Tidyman’s Warehouse Foods, which had sponsored the egg hunt in previous years, opted to spend the money on another program. When news got around about the canceled event, KNFR’s morning DJs decided to play Easter Bunny.

During their Thursday morning show, Jay Daniels and Kevin James managed to round up 100 volunteers, thousands of eggs and a place to boil and dye them.

The “Good Morning Guys,” didn’t expect such an overwhelming response when they started talking about the egg hunt at 7:40 a.m.

“It’s great just to see the look on these kids’ faces,” Daniels said, as he distributed prizes after the egg hunt.

Saturday’s event drew more kids than usual, officials said.

For a few minutes, Riverfront Park turned into a corral as screaming kids stampeded like livestock.

Many came early for the 10 a.m. swarm.

“It’s very exciting for the kids,” said Mo Nguyen of Spokane, who brought her two children to the event. “They couldn’t wait to come here.”

Although parents were asked to stay outside the circles, many ignored the rules. They ran right along with their kids - some with video cameras recording every second, others with their own bags to collect eggs for their children.

“Look at that egg, honey,” one mother said, prodding her 2-year-old to join the hunt.

A few were more aggressive: “Get the plastic ones,” yelled a dad. “Those have the prizes.”

Competition was fierce among the 3- to 5-year-olds. A few started pushing each other, falling all over themselves as they vied for the eggs. Overwhelmed by the mob, some of the little ones started to cry. Fortunately for them, organizers saved extra eggs for kids who didn’t get any.

“We went in there and they were all gone,” said Jacob Wardell, 7. “Kids were knocking each other over.”

With a few exceptions, most of the kids - and parents - looked like they enjoyed themselves.

“I like running to get the eggs,” said 3-year-old Kristin Dulik as she ate one of her finds. “I was really fast.”

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Color photo