The Woodland Moose Lodge will host its annual community Easter Egg hunt on Saturday, April 16.
Children who are 11 years old or younger are welcome to participate in the event, which will feature separate egg hunts broken out into age groups.
Lota Ross, the administrative assistant for Woodland Moose Lodge No. 2394, is excited to bring back the popular event for the first time since 2019 following a three-year hiatus.
“There’s going to be something for everybody,” Ross said.
The event will feature egg hunts for four age groups, which will all have their own dedicated zone where they can find eggs.
In all, there will be between 5,500 and 6,000 Easter Eggs spread throughout Horseshoe Lake Park in Woodland for the kids to find. Each of the eggs will be filled with candy or other goodies.
Ross said she expects between 200 and 300 people to attend.
Kids who find a special prize egg during the hunt will receive a gift basket. There will be three prize baskets per age group.
“Once they find that prize egg, they’ll bring it up where we’ll have a table set up, and the person who does the baskets is usually there, so she lets them choose which one they want,” Ross said.
In the past, Ross said the prizes have included soccer balls, badminton equipment, candy, stuffed animals, coloring books and crayons.
Ross said the crew plans to start setting up the park at 7 a.m. on the morning of the event.
“The Easter Egg hunt starts at 10, and then it’s usually over at 10:06,” she said with a laugh. “It doesn’t take them any time at all to find all those eggs.”
While the more recent iterations of the event utilize plastic eggs with prizes inside, Ross said the organizers used to hide painted boiled eggs 15 years ago.
She said organizing the event has kept her busy because the Moose Lodge is also coordinating a Fishing Derby, which will be held at Horseshoe Lake Park on May 14.
At that event, Ross said kids will have the chance to win prizes based on the size of fish they catch during the derby. One of the prizes includes a bicycle that was donated by one of the Moose Lodge members, she said.
Ross said the Woodland Princesses will also be in attendance at the community Easter Egg hunt. The girls will help Moose Lodge members set up and will also spend time with the kids.
“Sometimes, little girls think those princesses are just the neatest thing, so I’m sure the little girls enjoy that especially,” Ross said.
Horseshoe Lake Park is located at 700 Goerig St. in Woodland. The event will start at 10 a.m. on April 16.
