When 569 children were unleashed March 23 at Waterside Park in Lakewood Ranch during Eggstravaganza, thousands of eggs were sucked into baskets within two to three minutes.
It took Lakewood Ranch Community Activities volunteers hours to put out all the plastic eggs containing goodies, and children less than an egg timer to pick them up.
It was a wild, fun scramble along Kingfisher Lake.
"This is such a great community," said Lakewood Ranch's Brianna Cruz, whose 7-month-old Enzo Cruz, who enjoying his first Eggstravaganza. "He was so excited. it was such a big day for him."
Lakewood Ranch's Stephanie Tretolo brought her 3-year-old Oliver to Eggstravaganza.
"It so nice to have something to go to this close to home, and something so much fun," she said.
Palmetto 2-year-old Everleigh Flynn put her Easter basket down at Eggstravaganza March 23 at Waterside Place to concentrate on playing in the sand.
Photo by Jay Heater
Hundreds of children and their parents came to Eggstravaganza at Waterside Park.
Photo by Jay Heater
Bricks 4 Kidz provided plenty of entertainment for kids, and parents, at Eggstravaganza.
Photo by Jay Heater
Waterside 2-year-old Sawyer Favara gets behind the wheel of a Sarasota County Fire Department truck at Eggstravaganza.
Photo by Jay Heater
Maximioiano Escobar spins the Grove's wheel of fortunate at Eggstravaganza. The Grove was one of the event sponsors.
Photo by Jay Heater
Chris McComas of MVP Sports and Social started the egg hunt with the help of the Easter Bunny, AKA Keith Pandeloglou.
Photo by Jay Heater
Lakewood Ranch High's Zoe Dubendorf didn't have a basket, so she used her shirt to spread out eggs before Eggstravaganza. She is a National Honor Society member.
Photo by Jay Heater
Meredith Beck uses the kick method to spread out eggs for Eggstravaganza. She was getting volunteer hours as a National Honor Society member at Lakewood Ranch High.
Photo by Jay Heater
Olivia Escorcia, 7, and Marco Escorcia, 5, meet the Easter Bunny at Eggstravaganza.
Photo by Jay Heater
It might be morning, but Lakewood Ranch 4-year-old Carter Coleman is enjoying a Kona Ice.
Photo by Jay Heater
The scramble begins at Eggstravaganza for kids 3 and under.
Photo by Jay Heater
Waterside 18-month-old August Smith checks out the eggs he scooped up at Eggstravaganza.
Photo by Jay Heater
East County's Isizabell Williams, 7, enjoys a basketball game while her mom mans the Kona Ice truck in the background.
Photo by Jay Heater
Lakewood Ranch's Kaden Stalnaker, 2, and Savannah Stalnaker, 4, begin to open their eggs at Eggstravaganza.
Photo by Jay Heater
Kids at Eggstravaganza had all kinds of activities to do before the egg hunt began.
Photo by Jay Heater
Lakewood Ranch 3-year-old Oliver Tretolo and mom Stephanie Tretolo check out one of the plastic eggs at Eggstravaganza.
Photo by Jay Heater
Lakewood Ranch's Enzo Cruz, 7 months old, enjoys his first Eggstravaganza with mom Brianna Cruz at Waterside Park March 23.
Photo by Jay Heater
Abby Zou watches as her son, 6-year-old Orson Li, makes his guess at the number of jelly beans in the jar in an East County Observer game at Eggstravaganza.
Photo by Jay Heater
Kaitlyn Stock watches as her son, Lane Watters guesses the number of jelly beans in the jar in a game sponsored by the East County Observer at Eggstravaganza.
Photo by Jay Heater
7-year-old Annelise, 5-year-old Evelyn and 3-year-old Isabel McLaughlin of Lakewood Ranch prepare for the start of Eggstravaganza.
Photo by Jay Heater
Parrish 6-year-old Sofia Buccione stays still as Alison Smith concentrates on painting her face at Eggstravaganza.
Photo by Jay Heater
Parrish's Sofia Buccione, 6, shows off the finished product of her face painting at Eggstravaganza.
Jay Heater is the managing editor of the East County Observer. Overall, he has been in the business more than 41 years, 26 spent at the Contra Costa Times in the San Francisco Bay area as a sportswriter covering college football and basketball, boxing and horse racing.
