NORWICH – The annual Norwich Easter Egg Hunt takes place this weekend on Saturday, March 28, sponsored by the Maydole Hose Company No. 2 of the Norwich Fire Department.

The egg hunt will take place rain or shine at the East and West Parks in the City of Norwich.

Children up to age four are invited to egg hunt at West Park starting at 10:00 a.m. and children aged five to eight years old can join the hunt at East Park starting at 10:30 a.m.. All children must be accompanied by an adult and must bring their own egg-collecting basket or receptacle. The egg hunt is open to children across Chenango County.

There will be grand prizes up for grabs, those being bicycles for two lucky egg hunters. Not to mention special guest of the day, The Easter Bunny, who will enrich the overall experience and provide great photo opportunities for families in attendance.

The Maydole Hose Company No. 2, began sponsoring the annual egg hunt in 2009, growing it each year to what it is now.

Pat Ford, President of the Maydole Hose Company No. 2, along with other department members show up earlier in the morning to set everything up and place all of the eggs for the children to find. He will start the Egg Hunt for the younger group and then walk over to the next park to start the second hunt for the older kids. This year they've prepared over 5000 eggs for the Egg Hunt participants.

Ford said, “This event is all about the children. Watching the excitement in their faces, especially the young ones, is what it's all about.”

Before the Egg Hunt is initiated, the children will be made to line up around the edges of the park and wait patiently for the starting signal given by Ford.

Each egg contains a small prize or candy, but two special eggs will contain a grand prize certificate which is exchanged for one of the bicycles.

A couple of years past, one of the certificates was not found or claimed by anyone, disappointing the Hose Company who look forward to giving out the bicycles to our youngest community members each year and the participants. So if your child is hunting be sure to check the eggs for these certificates in case they are one of the lucky winners of a grand prize.

The Easter Bunny will be there a little bit before the hunt begins to take pictures and will be hanging around after the eggs are all collected for even more photos with attendees. If your children are not of an age to participate your family can still take advantage of the festive photo opportunity and chance to meet the Easter Bunny.

Ford said the all of the children manage to pickup the thousands of eggs very quickly. Describing what is almost a frenzy with how the eggs are all gone in minutes. They typically see hundreds of excited children from the community show up for their chance to collect Easter eggs and admire the magic of the Easter Bunny.

Ford expressed that part of why they sponsor this event is to show support for the community and that it's not just about fighting fires, they are there to show up. He would also like to thank the City of Norwich for cleaning up the parks ahead of time in support of the event.

Good luck to the children participating and happy hunting!