GRIDLEY, CA (MPG) - Dark, threatening skies and intermittent sprinkles couldn’t crack the 54th Gridley Lions Club Easter Egg Hunt last Saturday!

Days before, the Lions got to work boiling and dying a pallet full of eggs for the event, donated by Gridley’s Grocery Outlet owner Billy Quenga. Quenga even joined in the egg-dying fun.

 Excited children lined up along the starting ropes and waited for the countdown to the 54th Gridley Lions Easter Egg Hunt! Photo by Seti Long

The day of the hunt, the weather held long enough for hundreds of egg-cited children and families to gather in Manuel Vierra Park for the annual Lions egg hunt.

Lions and volunteers from Sycamore’s CJSF, Gridley High School’s Volleyball Team, and Queens from the Miss Butte County Scholarship Program, Miss Agriculture America Queens and Lion Rex, an adorable T-Rex, arrived early Saturday morning to hide almost 5,000 colorful eggs throughout the park for children to find.

To keep things on a relatively level playing field for all those in attendance, the park was cordoned off into sections with egg hunts for specific age ranges. The hunters 5 and under were allowed help from their guardians and received raffle tickets before the hunt for a chance to win stuffed bunnies. The older children were turned loose on their own and had to hunt for golden eggs which they could redeem for a fluffy prize rabbit.

 Multiple volunteers, including royalty from the Miss Butte County Scholarship Program and Miss Agriculture America Pageant, joined Gridley Lions Club at the annual Lions Easter Egg Hunt. Photo by Hilary Bastiani

The hunt promptly began at 11:00 a.m. to the sound of a CALFIRE engine’s siren and a cheerful Lion shouting “GO” over the park’s sound system. Hordes of children would be seen stampeding through the park, sometimes running right past eggs hidden too well.

After the youth recovered as many eggs as possible from the dewy fields, they gathered for the chance at raffle prizes, collected their winnings and took some time to create some fun crafts in the Lions activity area. Two Easter Bunnies made themselves available for photos and mingled with the crowds after the hunt.

Lion Vern Heartman shares that only once in the history of the Lions Easter Egg Hunt have they had to move the event indoors. Thanks to the weather holding, the community enjoyed another year of Gridley Lions Easter tradition.

 Extra eggs were dyed the Lions colors purple and gold, handed out after the hunt by Lion Jason Piazza. Photo by Seti Long