By Kari Haahr

The Salt River baseball fields were once again covered in plastic eggs and eager youth on March 29 for the annual Easter Egg Hunt. Families from across the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community came with baskets ready, hoping to find a coveted golden egg among the approximately 8,500 eggs scattered across four fields. Once the buzzer went off, the hunt began! Children found a variety of prizes, from eggs with treasures and candies inside to stuffed animals and other small toys. For the winners with the golden eggs, though, a simple note led them to a prize that was too big to fit in the egg.

Following the hunt, families played field games hosted by SRPMIC’s Recreation Division including sack races, an obstacle course, a carrot relay race, egg carrying and more. Other fun activities available were face painting, caricatures, photo booths and visits with the Easter Bunny while vendors sold their baked goods, handcrafted jewelry and other wares.

The coveted titles in the Easter pageant went to Jasmine Burns and Josziah Munoz Medina for the 0-1 age group and Nyla Verdugo and Liam Valenzuela for the 2-3 age group. The event closed out with an egg-eating contest, in which Derrick Osif became the back-to-back champion after his victory last year.