C.O. Egg Hunts: Fun on Land, Under Water

One of Central Oregon’s more different Easter egg hunts on Saturday was not your usual park or backyard affair — instead, it was in a swimming pool.

More than 50 kids participated in the Underwater Egg Hunt at the Cascade Swim Center in Redmond.

A few hundred eggs were dropped into the pool — some sinking, some floating and others half-sinking and floating.

Kids had one minute to grab as many eggs as they could.

“We just want the kids to have fun,” said Denise De Leone, the lead lifeguard supervisor. “And for them to enjoy their experience here, so they will come back later, when we have other parties or just every day or during the summer bringing their kids, their families, tell people about it and just to get them to come in.”

Of course, there were prizes for the kids inside the eggs were notes saying what they won.

Some of the eggs included chocolate bunnies and some eggs had the biggest prize: five free passes to the pool.

Over at Mountain View High School, it was an Easter Family Fun Fair.

Out of the five years the Christian Life Center has put the event on, they’ve had just one year rained out. But Saturday, the sun was out.

Organizers say they expected 1,000 to 2,000 people. Kids could enjoy a variety of activities, from crafts to golf to even bowling. There were goodies, too, from popcorn to hot chocolate.

Saturday’s celebration was in honor of the real meaning of Easter.

“Our living Lord — he’s not dead, he’s risen from the grave, and that’s what we celebrate,” said Chuck Beem, an event organizer. “Jesus Christ our savior is alive. It’s an awesome celebration.”

More than 100 volunteers helped out from the church.

The most exciting part of the day was when 25,000 pieces of candy were tossed out for kids to run and scoop up.

Meanwhile, another Easter egg hunt took place over at Ray’s Food Place in Bend — this time, down two of the store’s aisles.

The store has done this in the past, but just brought it back this year.

Over 100 kids, aged 10 and younger, went looking through the aisles.

Dan Hightower, the store manager, says watching the kids go crazy and picking out the prizes at the end is what he enjoys from the event.

“We had a great turnout — kids went crazy, everybody was happy,” Hightower said. “It just was exciting. I can’t wait to do next year.”

Some of the prizes for those who found the eggs included candy, apples, oranges, string cheese and stickers.

But the biggest prize: doughnuts. If you found the lucky egg, you received a doughnut a week for a year.