Hunts had photographer hopping

Have you ever noticed how — especially at Easter time — people tend to get cute with the word “egg”?
You know what I mean: “Egg-straordinary savings at this weekend’s sale!” That sort of thing.
If I were to succumb to the urge, I’d be writing about my egg-stremely interesting day on Saturday. But I’ll resist temptation.
My task Saturday, while other staff members enjoyed a well-earned day off, was to shoot photos at four — count ’em — four Easter egg hunts for Monday’s daily and this week’s edition of the Dunkirk News and Sun.
I have never seen so many egg hunts on the calendar in my life. There was no way I could photo-staff them all, but I worked out a schedule for four.
My first stop was at 11 a.m. at Hudson Family Park in Portland where Rob Weaver of WPGW was once again wrangling the kiddos for the radio station’s annual event. The hunt used to be held at Haynes Park, but since it is — at best — a little soggy this time of year it has been moved to Hudson.
Parking was at a premium, but the kids and the parents were all pretty well behaved.
It’s an odd event in that most of it is preparation. The event itself is over in something like two and a half minutes.
I stepped past parents and kids to position myself up on some playground equipment, encountering more than a few stares as people wondered who this old guy was who thought he could cut to the front of the line.
With the Hudson event over in no time, I was back in the car and headed for my next stop, Redkey.
Actually, there was a 10 a.m. egg hunt at Redkey Elementary School that I had missed. I was banking on the hunt behind Will’s IGA, which I had been told had turned into a major community event.
I had been told correctly. Within minutes of arrival, I’d run into most of Redkey. Gene Stigleman and the Lions Club were handing out treats in advance and grilling burgers and hot dogs. I ran into Kyle Champ and asked if there was a separate section of the hunt set aside just for town council members. And over about half an hour I ran into a whole bunch of people I hadn’t seen in too long a time. (Note to self: Attend Easter egg hunts more often.)
The Redkey hunt went off like clockwork at noon, but I couldn’t hang around because I had another hunt to shoot at 12:30 p.m. That one was at Miller’s Merry Manor outside of Dunkirk.
It was one I didn’t want to miss because I knew my old friend Arnold Clevenger, former Dunkirk police chief and now maintenance guru for Miller’s, was playing the Easter Bunny. I also have a number of friends among the residents at Miller’s and figured I’d have a chance to say hello.
To his credit, Arnold stayed in character as the Easter Bunny. That is, he didn’t say a word. He kind of nodded in my direction, which was sort of like the late Larry Brown or the late Lloyd Paxson saying, “Hi, Jack,” while they were playing Santa Claus back in the day.
After Miller’s I had a bit of a gap. The Dunkirk City Park egg hunt — which is sponsored by WPGW with an assist from Jay County Chamber of Commerce and local sororities — wasn’t scheduled to start until 2 p.m. I had more than an hour to kill.
So how do you kill an hour at Dunkirk City Park on a Saturday afternoon?
I chatted with city councilman and former mayor Tom Johnson, who has made it his personal mission to care for the park, about things like playground equipment and when it’s safe to turn the water on for the restrooms. I sat in the sun on the merry-go-round, then pushed it and kept it turning for some kids.
Finally, I noticed that one of the sorority ladies was having trouble hefting a box of candy, so I pitched in and tossed out goodies for the age 1 to 5 section. As I played Easter Bunny, I wondered if I was doing it correctly.
Better ask Arnold, I figured.