Families galore gathered at Buddy Attick Park on Saturday morning for the city’s annual Easter Egg Hunt, a long-standing springtime tradition that continues to bring joy and excitement to Greenbelt’s youngest residents.
The event, organized by Greenbelt’s Recreation Department, featured a colorful scramble for goodie-filled eggs scattered across the grassy field. For a lucky few, golden eggs offered an extra surprise: a prize bag packed with games, toys and even a gift card.
“It’s a huge group effort,” said Adam Daelemans, the event’s main coordinator. “We’ve got park rangers, volunteers, recreation staff, the police department … it’s a bunch of people making it work,” he said. “I’m technically the coordinator, but I couldn’t have done it without help from the whole city.”
But Daelemans is the man behind the scenes, gathering the hundreds of eggs, coordinating with multiple city departments to ensure the event runs smoothly from start to finish and ensuring there’s entertainment for all the attendees to enjoy once the exhilaration of the hunt wears off.
The egg hunt is divided into age groups to keep the experience safe and fun for all participants. After a quick countdown, kids dashed into their designated zones in search of the bright plastic eggs – many of which contained candy, toys, stickers and temporary tattoos.
Harvey, a first-grader, was one of the lucky few who found a golden egg. He beamed with pride as he rummaged through the prize bag he received in exchange. “It’s really exciting for all of us,” said his sister Mabel, noting that after years of attending the egg hunt, no one in their family had ever found a golden egg before.
For many families, the Easter Egg Hunt is an annual tradition.
“We’ve been coming every year since [my daughter] was old enough to walk,” said Briana Festive, a Greenbelt resident. “It’s nearby, well-organized and it’s great that they have other activities to do after. The egg hunt only lasts around 30 seconds, so it’s nice there’s more reason to stay.”
It’s more like two minutes, but it goes by quickly. In a blink, little hands scoop up every last egg from the grass, leaving behind empty shells and excited chatter. But the fun doesn’t end there – families lingered in the park, snapping pictures with the Easter Bunny, getting their faces painted, catching up with neighbors and enjoying the activities scat-tered around the area.
And that, Daelemans says, is the heart of it all. “It’s a great opportunity, it’s free and it’s a chance for people to just come out and enjoy some relatively nice weather,” he said. “I think these types of events are what make Greenbelt feel like a community.”
Diya Shah is a student at the Philip Merrill College of Journalism interning with the Greenbelt News Review.
