Easter Egg Hunt grows in second year at Puckety Presbyterian in Lower Burrell

Two-year-old Vivian Jones held up her purple Easter basket, decorated with pale purple tulle, to show her latest collection.

“I got more eggs,” she said.

She was among the roughly 200 kids that scoured the grass at Puckety Presbyterian Church’s second annual Easter egg hunt in Lower Burrell.

And for Vivian, it was a new experience.

“We used to do egg hunts before covid, but this is the first one for her,” said her mother Sarah Jones, of Plum.

Also with Vivian was her father, Lamar; sister, Lauren, 4, who came prepared for the hunt with a basket decorated like a bunny; and brother, Cameron, 7, with a Batman bucket.

Sunday proved to be a chilly but bright day — quite different from the church’s first event last year, said Pastor Brian Kilbert.

Prior to last year’s event, Kilbert said, they had already hidden the eggs around the church property before about an inch of snow fell that morning. As it melted, it turned the ground to mud. But the kids were unstoppable. They found about 1,500 eggs in about 15 minutes, he said.

Sunday’s free event was open to the community and featured train rides, face painting, raffles, balloon animals and pictures with the Easter Bunny.

Planning starts early for an event like this.

“We started working on this in January, right after Christmas,” church Secretary Kelly Kapelewski said.

Expecting a bigger crowd this year, Kapelewski said the church upped the egg count to 2,000.

Cousins Madisyn and Kenzie Fularz stuck together to race through the grass during the hunt.

“I want to get my face painted next,” said Kenzie, 9, as she held a small bag of popcorn.

“Yes, face painting next,” said Madisyn, 8.

Laura Fularz, Kenzie’s mother, said this was their first time at the event, but they had learned about it when Kenzie came home from school with a flyer.

Harleen Schwartz, 6, sat on the ground with her grandfather, Dave Levfever, to sort through her basket, finding eggs filled with candy, bracelets and toys.

The pair were looking for something to do on a Sunday.

“My mom found this on her phone. She asked me if I want to go,” Harleen said.

Kilbert said the event is part of the church’s community outreach.

“We want them to know they can come here and they’re welcome,” he said. “We also want to take the opportunity to give people a chance to think about the meaning of Easter.”