Kids Get Eggs Ready For Easter West Central’S Party Helps Bunny With Today’S Hunt

Sun., April 12, 1998

Luke Timmerman Staff writer

The oak table on the sidewalk was just a little more wobbly than it had been before the party.

It endured about 15 frenzied minutes with 30 kids leaning and pushing on it, dying to dye Easter eggs in their favorite colors.

With a shield of lavender plastic protecting it from the watery splatters of green, red, chartreuse and every other color in the spectrum, the table held up pretty well.

The table in the West Central neighborhood was at the core of Saturday’s Easter get-together, and it ended up carrying 16 dozen hard-boiled eggs dyed and stamped with butterfly stickers. The eggs were then stashed away for parents to hide for a hunt this morning in the neighborhood.

Wait a minute. Parents did the hiding?

“The Easter Bunny’s hiding the eggs, what do you mean, you are?” said Joan Byre to a fellow parent who let the secret slip within earshot of a few 4-year-olds.

“Oh, well I thought he was booked,” replied parent Leslie Clark with a wink. “That’s great he’s here.”

Clark and several other mothers in the area organized a blockwide egg-dying party and hunt for the third consecutive year.

This year, they took a little more initiative than in the past. Clark got a pair of neighborhood shops, Doyle’s Ice Cream Parlor and Family Superette, to donate ice cream and goodies.

The kids’ radar picked up the ice cream when a parent carrying the bucket was still about a block away. After repeating instructions about a dozen times, parents even managed to get the kids to line up single file, little ones first.

Every kid got equal amounts, with no contests or prizes.

Although they were pretty pleased to eat their treats, several of the kids said they saw a deeper meaning to Easter than hedonistic candy gobbling.

“My favorite part is that Jesus rose from the dead,” said 6-year-old Jocelyn Pyper.

A few kids clustered around heard that remark, but didn’t make any funny looks.

“We’re Christian, and we believe in that kind of stuff,” said Matthew Pyper, Jocelyn’s 10-year-old brother.

Local journalism is essential.

Give directly to The Spokesman-Review's Northwest Passages community forums series -- which helps to offset the costs of several reporter and editor positions at the newspaper -- by using the easy options below. Gifts processed in this system are tax deductible.

Meet Our Journalists

Jesse Tinsley

Meet Jesse Tinsley. As a certified drone pilot, this veteran Spokesman-Review photographer often can be seen capturing beautiful aerial photographs of our region. Sometimes though, the job requires getting down with the dogs.
Jim Meehan

Jim Meehan is no stranger to Zag Nation. As the lead writer covering the Gonzaga men’s basketball team, he tells the stories behind the game and gets fans a bit closer to their favorite players.
Molly Quinn

There is no artist in Spokane like Molly Quinn. Her whimsical style is instantly recognizable to readers of The Spokesman-Review. She has painted gorgeous illustrations that instantly elevate the journalism accompanying it. She brings to life the stories that defy photography. She makes our pages better.
Rob Curley

Spokesman-Review editor Rob Curley loves to talk with people and learn about their lives, whether it's a best-selling author or a stranger he meets downtown on his walk to lunch. It's that inquisitive nature combined with a playful sense of storytelling that helps make our newspaper different than most.