Family Easter Egg Hunt for Hundreds of Children (Video)

Just as Easter eggs are sold by a dozen, the Harte family Easter egg hunt is now a dozen years old.

What started years ago with just a few children has grown into an event that takes months to plan and an untold amount of hours to prepare. 

“We invite about 200 (children), plus their parents. There may be 350 who attend,” Greg Harte said. To make sure there are enough Easter eggs to go around, the Hartes fill 3,000 plastic eggs with candy along with about 800 gift tickets. Any child who finds a ticket in an egg receives a gift from a roomful of stuffed animals, dolls, toys and even baby bibs.

Over the years, as more people began attending the event, Harte said everyone wanted to help pay for the cost. Instead, it was decided to accept donations for a non-profit organization or charity.

Each year between $2,500 and $3,000 is raised, Harte said. This year’s event will benefit the American Cancer Society. Last year, the donations were given to a fund created for the family of Mickey McPhee, who died in late 2009 at the age of 36. 

Harte and his wife, Holly, have organized the event at their home near South Brooksvale Road since their children were infants. Now, with their oldest boy reaching his pre-teen years, he said this year’s event could be their last. 

The egg hunt has always been held one week before Easter, despite what the weather forecast may be.

“I was panicking with the rain last night,” Harte said Sunday. But the skies cleared in time for the thousands of eggs to be placed on the lawn at a nearby neighborhood park. “There is no ‘hiding’ thousands of Easter eggs. We place them carefully, they open up if you toss them,” he said.

 After the hunt, children line up with their blue tickets while Holly and several volunteers go to work in what can only be called "The “Easter Room.” There they choose gifts which are age-appropriate, down to baby bibs and rattles.