By Maddy Vitale
Mackenzie Garcia, 3, had a method to her fast eggs-picking at the 11th Street beach Saturday afternoon during Ocean City’s Great Egg Hunt.
“She picks them up as fast as she can,” Mackenzie’s father, Michael Garcia, of Northfield, explained as he helped his daughter fill her bag full of plastic eggs holding candies. “This is an amazing event. This is our daddy-daughter location. We come for the Egg Hunt and Family Night. Ocean City is our spot.”
When asked to guess the number of eggs in her bag, Mackenzie counted up to 10 and giggled.
There were more … a lot more.
And so went the egg hunt hustle that spanned five age groups and four beaches between 11th and 14th streets.
Thousands of people lined the perimeters of the egg hunt areas. Thousands and thousands of plastic eggs in yellows, pinks, purples and blues covered the beaches and turned the sand into a technicolor fantasyland.
Within minutes of the 2:30 p.m. event, many of the eggs were scooped up in buckets, baskets, bags and plenty of little hands.
Lucas Marchetti, 3, of Holland, Pa., and his father Greg Marchetti checked out some of his eggs.
The little boy opened a yellow egg and smiled as he pulled out a tiny Tootsie Roll.
“Our family has a place in Ocean City,” Greg Marchetti said, adding that the egg hunt was a lot of fun.
Lucas had one thing to say about the egg hunt.
“Thanks,” he exclaimed.
To that, his father chuckled.
Lauren Kemble, of Broomall, Pa., brought her daughter, Mia, 3, for a second year in a row to enjoy the egg hunt and visit with family in Ocean City during the Easter holiday.
Mia had filled her bag with eggs – way more than last year – her mother pointed out.
“She just really went for it this year,” Lauren Kemble said with a laugh.
For Leah Esmond, 4, of Hilltown Township, Pa., there was only one thing to do during the Great Egg Hunt.
“Get all the Easter eggs,” she said and smiled.
Leah and her mother, Kim Esmond, looked happily at the many eggs that filled her bag.
“We are here visiting family in Egg Harbor Township,” Kim Esmond said. “This is the first time we came to the egg hunt here. It is amazing.”
An estimated 4,000 children participated in the annual egg hunt, one of the centerpieces of an Easter weekend of free, family-friendly events on the beaches and Boardwalk.
The Easter celebration will continue Sunday with nondenominational sunrise services beginning at 6:30 a.m. at the Music Pier at Moorlyn Terrace and the Boardwalk.
Later, a fashion promenade on the Boardwalk in front of the Music Pier will allow people to dress up in their Easter best and compete for prizes. Judging begins at 1 p.m.
