AUBURN - More than 9,000 multicolored eggs were spread across the lawns of Hoopes Park early Saturday morning

as hundreds of eager children gathered for the annual Owasco-Fleming Kiwanis Easter Egg Hunt.

Willard Schwarting, club president, said that the hunt has been going on for nearly 60 years, while he and his wife, Jean, have been involved for 35.

"This is great," Jean said. "It gets kids from the whole city of Auburn involved."

"It started a little slow this year," Willard said in the minutes before the children were allowed to begin the hunt. "But in the last 10 minutes or so it has really picked up, it looks like we'll have a good turnout this year."

In the weeks leading up to the hunt, Owasco-Fleming Kiwanis members spent their spare time packing plastic eggs with candy.

The Schwartings arrived to the park extra early Saturday, and, with the help of the East Middle School Honor Society

and the Rainbow Girls, began hiding eggs around the park.

The Easter Bunny was also on hand to help the festivities.

"The kids really like that," Jean said. "I think it's really nice for them to see the Easter Bunny here and get their picture and he hands out suckers to everybody after the hunt."

Hidden among the more than 9,000 eggs were a handful of eggs with special notes attached, announcing that that finder had won a special prize, like a basket of stuffed animals or a bicycle, one for each age group.

"The kids love it," Willard said. "We got some really nice prizes donated by Wal-Mart; they have been very kind sponsors to us for this over the last few years."

Four-year-old Connor Gasper was one of the lucky winners of a new bike.

"I always came to this when I was little," Connor's mother, Erin, said. "So it has become a tradition and now I bring my kids to it every year."

And Connor was simply eager to get out and try his new bike.

"I like it," Connor said. "It is red. I'm really happy."

Across town, at Herman Field at the Booker T. Washington Center, another crowd of children eagerly awaited the

start of the seventh annual Men With A Purpose Men's Club Easter Egg Hunt.

"There are seven of us," club president David McLeod said. "We get together do things like sponsor families for Christmas and Thanksgiving and this is an extension of what we do with that. It is all giveaways, just our way to give a little something back to the community."

Read the full report in Sunday's edition of The Citizen.