Oakland Beach ready for 30th egg hunt

Johnston Sun Rise ·

This marks the 30th year since Christine Morton initiated the idea of an Oakland Beach Easter Egg hunt. In some ways the hunt has come a long way in three decades, yet in others it has hardly changed.

The first hunt sponsored by the Oakland Beach Association was held at the tennis courts diagonally across from Oakland Beach School, which is now the skate park. The eggs were hard-boiled and the coloring was a laborious process taking days. The eggs were numbered. The numbers were randomly picked to award prizes.

“Some of the eggs got stepped on and you couldn’t read the numbers,” recalls Ward 6 Councilwoman Donna Travis, who has worked on the hunt since those first days. Plastic eggs were the solution. And while the eggs came colored it didn’t absolve those staging the event from a lot of work. All 2,700 eggs are opened and filled with candy or prizes. Numbers also go into select eggs with the finders of those eggs winning prizes.

This year Rita Oliver, widow of Kevin Oliver who started the Tuesday Oakland Beach cruise nights, is co-chairing the Easter Egg Hunt with Travis’ daughter, Tina Bajakian. Both Olivers have a history of help running the hunt. Rita is one of those who snaps up bags of discounted plastic eggs following Easter and holds on to them for the following year’s event.

The hunt has always been that sort of community event where people pitch in to make it happen, said Travis. There have been contributions of stuffed animals, toys, baskets and, of course, candy. There have also been contributions of food that have enabled the association to put together raffle baskets and come up with the money for bikes and kids’ prizes. This year there will be a couple of $50 Benny’s gift certificates as grand prizes.

Travis said there would be “some surprises” this year, but she’s not letting on as to what they might be.

“We want people to come and be surprised,” she said.

There’s no budget for the hunt.

Those who have helped year after year include Bajakian, George Areson and members of the Greater Warwick Lions Club, to name a few, simply coming together to make it happen. A number of people have chaired the event including Christine Morton, who ran it for 19 years. Others leading the effort over the years include Marie Cavanaugh, Travis, Bajakian and Rita Oliver.

The hunt is conducted in the Oakland Beach School yard and is divided into two sections. The playground area is reserved for kids 4 years old and younger. The rest of the yard is set aside for kids up to 9 years old. Warwick Police Cadets help bring some order to the hunt, not only putting out the eggs, which are all pretty much in plain sight, but also controlling the rush as soon as it’s noon and the hunt starts. The hunt is over in a minute, with the exception of the little kids area where the concept of scooping up as many eggs as possible doesn’t seem to be the motive. Eating the candy inside is one attraction.

The hunt also has its own Easter bunny thanks to the students at Vets High. Travis said the bunny suit was made possible by a grant from one of the classes soon after the hunt was started.

While the weather hasn’t always been cooperative, the hunt has never been canceled. Travis remembers egg hunts in the snow and three years ago when a tent was stretched between a couple of cars to provide some relief from a downpour.

This year’s hunt will be held Saturday, April 15 at Oakland Beach School starting exactly at noon.