BY MARY GARRISON MINYARD
news@marshallcountydaily.com
Four-year-old Hadley Litrell didn’t find a prize egg, but she still had a big time running through the grass and filling her basket just as quickly as she could. Hadley, and her brother Jayden were among hundreds of children vying for for prizes and candy at the annual Benton Community Easter Egg Hunt Saturday in H.H. Lovett Park. It’s an event in which the Litrells participate every year.
“Jaden won … a bouncy castle one year,” said Heather Litrell, Hadley and Jayden’s mother. “Kelsey … one a bicycle one year and Hadley won a little play table one year.
“We get to see friends and spend time out in the community,” Heather Litrell added. “It’s just a lot of fun.”
It’s almost as much a community tradition as Tater Day. Local radio station WCBL and the Marshall County Rescue Squad have partnered to host the event for almost 50 years. And it’s just as much fun for the adults as the kids. Marshall County Emergency Management Director and former Resque Squad Chief Curt Curtner said he’s been working to help host the event for about 22 years, and it never gets old.
“(My favorite part) is the kids,” Curtner said. “Absolutely the kids. Especially the ones that are not for sure if they want to go see the Easter Bunny. It’s just an awesome thing, and anything we can do to help support our kids in the community, we love it. We’re just glad to be a part of it.”
WCBL Sales Manager Chris Freeland, like Curtner, said his favorite part was watching the children have fun as they scooped up their eggs or found a prize. Still, it’s a great deal of work. Organizers begin preparations about a month in advance; WCBL secures prizes and fills eggs with treats.
Rescue personnel rope off sections of the park, each one devoted to a particular age group. Then, Rescue Squad volunteers toss thousands of eggs full of goodies in the grass, he said; some of those eggs are redeemable for prizes. Others are filled with candy.
This year, Freeland said WCBL staff had a little added help with the goodies.
“We put together all the eggs, and not all of them had candy in them. We just ran out of candy and ran out of time,” Freeland said. “Well, the Rescue Squad last night when they came and got the eggs, they all got together until midnight and took all the eggs apart and put candy in them.”
Sherry Darnall, WCBL/WCCK business manager for some 43 years, said she’s been a part of the hunt throughout her tenure at the station. It’s fun, but she said staff couldn’t do it alone.
“The Rescue Squad, I mean, they do all the hard work,” Darnall said. “They just help so much. We couldn’t do it without them, there’s just no way.”
