• Article Photo. Two eggs, three girls: You do the math; we did the photography.
    Two eggs, three girls: You do the math; we did the photography.
  • Article Photo. The three girls reach for the eggs...
    The three girls reach for the eggs...
  • Article Photo. .. two of them succeed while one moves on to look elsewhere.
    .. two of them succeed while one moves on to look elsewhere.
  • Article Photo. Kids begin racing toward the eggs at Kiwanis' Easter Egg Hunt
    Kids begin racing toward the eggs at Kiwanis' Easter Egg Hunt
  • Article Photo. You can probably guess how this sequence will end...
    You can probably guess how this sequence will end...
  • Article Photo.
  • Article Photo.
  • Article Photo.
  • Article Photo.
  • Article Photo.
  • Article Photo. Children posed for photos with the Easter Bunny after the Kiwanis Easter Egg Hunt
    Children posed for photos with the Easter Bunny after the Kiwanis Easter Egg Hunt
  • Article Photo.
  • Article Photo.
  • Article Photo.
  • Article Photo. Adults race toward the eggs during the first adult Easter Egg Hunt at Rodgers Park.
    Adults race toward the eggs during the first adult Easter Egg Hunt at Rodgers Park.
  • Article Photo. The first-ever adult easter egg hunt at Rodgers park was a big hit.
    The first-ever adult easter egg hunt at Rodgers park was a big hit.
  • Article Photo. Ranger Scott Bohmann gives the adults rules and safety instructions before their egg hunt.
    Ranger Scott Bohmann gives the adults rules and safety instructions before their egg hunt.
  • Article Photo.
  • Article Photo. Ready.. set..
    Ready.. set..
  • Article Photo. GO!
    GO!
  • Article Photo.
  • Article Photo.
  • Article Photo.
  • Article Photo.
  • Article Photo.
  • Article Photo.
  • Article Photo.
  • Article Photo.
  • Article Photo.
  • Article Photo. Before enjoying their own Easter Egg Hunt, the adults first had to help their kids at Rodgers Park.
    Before enjoying their own Easter Egg Hunt, the adults first had to help their kids at Rodgers Park.
  • Article Photo.
  • Article Photo.
  • Article Photo.
  • Article Photo.
  • Article Photo.
  • Article Photo.
  • Article Photo.
  • Article Photo.
  • Article Photo.
  • Article Photo.
  • Article Photo.
  • Article Photo.
  • Article Photo.
  • Article Photo.
  • Article Photo.

A tradition that has been going on for more than a half-century continued on Saturday in Vinton. A new tradition, perhaps began. 

Hundreds of area families fill Riverside Park at 10 a.m. for the Kiwanis Easter Egg Hunt. The Kiwanis have been sponsoring this event for decades. Nobody knows for sure when the first one began, but the longest-serving Kiwanis members say they have been involved for more than 50 years.

Current Kiwanis members Lexa Speidel and Matt Salger discussed the history of the event as children returned the colored eggs for use next year. The Kiwanis and their helpers filled 3,500 eggs with candy and placed them throughout the park. 

Salger said he recalled hearing stories of how years ago, Kiwanis would boil real eggs, but crows would pick at the shells before children had a chance to pick them up.

Speidel remembers Mopsy, a rabbit she won at a Kiwanis Easter Egg Hunt when she was a child.

"There was an egg with a drawing of a bunny on it, and if you found it, you won a bunny. She left Riverside Park that day with a rabbit she named Mopsy, who became one of her family's pets.

 

Adult Easter Egg Hunt

At Rodgers Park, the Benton County Conservation officers and Ehlingher's 66 teamed up for the Easter Egg Hunt that has been taking place there for many years. This year featured a new event: An adult hunt. 

After the children found their eggs, volunteers placed 400 colored eggs -- 56 of which contained a small piece of paper indicating a certain prize. Scores of adults lined up and ran with as much energy as the children, in hopes of finding one of the prize eggs. 

Ranger Scott Bahmann told the crowd the event is likely to take place in the future, although he did not promise an annual event.