Thousands of eggs are being laid today and Saturday for that multicolored rite of spring, the Easter egg hunt.
They’re hidden all over the North Olympic Peninsula, on farms and baseball diamonds, in parks and inside businesses, depending on which town you find yourself in — and they’re free for the taking, provided you’re a youngster.
Here’s a survey of the hunting grounds across the North Olympic Peninsula:
■ Downtown Port Angeles beckons youngsters and energetic adults to the Easter Eggstravaganza, a hunt for hidden eggs, special sales and prizes today and Saturday.
Nineteen shops are on the circuit, so egg seekers can walk into any one and find out how to enjoy the hunt.
Among the businesses hiding eggs: Anime Kat, Teenie Queenie, Twisted Mischief, Bay Variety, the Inspired boutique, Rissa’s Barely Consignment, Northwest Fudge & Confections and Maurice’s, all on First Street; Brown’s Outdoor, Odyssey Books, the new Elliott’s Antique Emporium, Captain T’s Shirt Shoppe, Olympic Stationers and Sound Bikes & Kayaks, all on Front Street; and Pacific Rim Hobby at 138 W. Railroad Ave.
Hunts Friday, Saturday
All of the above shops will hold hunts during their business hours today and Saturday. Several of these stores also are offering special discounts and activities, while details and clues for the hunt are at www.PortAngelesDowntown.com.
In addition, White Crane Martial Arts, 129 W. First St., will hold an Easter egg hunt Saturday from noon until the eggs run out.
Saturday also is the day when the Easter Bunny will appear in downtown Port Angeles.
Sightings can be expected there between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m., said Easter activities coordinator Andrew Schwab.
The big bunny has indicated he will ultimately meet fans at the Conrad Dyar Memorial Fountain at First and Laurel streets at 2 p.m. and then lead anyone who wants to join him on a “bunny hop” around downtown.
All of these Easter activities, with the eggs and the prizes, can get complex, the organizers admitted.
“If anyone is really confused, send them my way,” said Schwab, who’ll be at Anime Kat, 110 W. First St., from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. today and Saturday.
■ The Boys & Girls Clubs of the Olympic Peninsula are having free Easter egg hunts in Sequim and Port Angeles on Saturday.
The Port Angeles club, 2620 S. Francis St., invites youngsters to its Spring Fling party, replete with an egg hunt, games and city police and fire department representatives on hand, from 1 p.m. until 3 p.m.
For details phone 360-417-2831.
Eggs in Sequim
■ The Sequim Boys & Girls Club, 400 W. Fir St., has a hunt for children 12 and younger Saturday from 10 a.m. until noon.
Nearly 1,000 plastic, candy-filled eggs will be hidden for the 5-and-younger crowd at 10:15 a.m.
The 6-, 7- and 8-year-olds have their hunt at 10:35 a.m., the 9- and 10-year-olds at 11 a.m. and finally the 11- and 12-year-olds at 11:25 a.m.
Admission is free for the hunt and games all morning, while food and drink will be for sale.
■ Just west of Sequim, The Pumpkin Patch and farm at the corner of Kitchen-Dick Road and U.S. Highway 101 will host the 34th annual KONP Easter egg hunt — a free public event — Saturday.
The hunt itself is for children 8 and younger and will have eggs, toys, candy, prizes and the Easter Bunny on hand. Sign-ups start at 8:30 a.m., and the hunt is on at 9 a.m.
To be eligible for the toy giveaways, each child will need to bring a registration slip.
Those are available in Port Angeles at Grand View Grocery, Wilder Auto and Wilder Toyota, Beauty and the Beach, Jim’s Pharmacy, the Fairmount Shell station, Viking Sew & Vac and Baskin-Robbins, and in Sequim at Olympic Game Farm and the Dungeness Kids Co.
■ Over at the Sequim Elks Lodge, 143 Port Williams Road, the Sequim Ladies of the Elks will hold an Easter egg hunt at 1 p.m. Saturday.
This one’s for children ages 2 to 10, who must come with an adult.
Refreshments will be served, and more information can be found at 360-683-2673.
Port Townsend hunts
■ In Port Townsend, Chetzemoka Park on Jackson Street at Blaine is the place for the 82nd annual Port Townsend Elks Lodge Easter egg hunt.
The event begins bright and early at 8 a.m. Sunday with numerous hidden dyed eggs, hidden baskets of candy and plastic eggs with goodies inside.
Then there are the 12 golden eggs and a dozen silver eggs, each redeemable for extra-large baskets of goodies.
This public hunt is free and is geared toward children 12 and younger; egg hunters will be divided into three age groups.
For more information, phone the Elks Lodge at 360-385-0317.
■ Also Sunday, Port Townsend’s American Legion Post 26 Ladies’ Auxiliary will hide about 1,100 eggs at the Old Legion Park on Discovery Road, accessible from Mill Road.
This free event, to start at 1 p.m., will have hunting grounds for three age groups: 4 and younger, 5 to 7, and 8 to 12 years old.
The found eggs will be redeemable for many prizes, said Selena Espinoza, president of the Ladies’ Auxiliary.
“We also have 100 little rubber duckies for the toddlers,” she added. “They are adorable.”
Eggs out west
■ In Joyce, the Kitchens family invites children and their folks to the 11th annual Joyce community Easter egg hunt at the Tongue Point area of Salt Creek Recreation Area County Park at 10 a.m. Saturday.
The egg hunt is open to kids 10 and younger, while organizers promise “tons of candy and prizes.”
■ Forks is the place for a giant Easter egg hunt — the 32nd annual — at 1 p.m. Saturday at Tillicum Park on Tillicum Lane just off North Forks Avenue.
“We’ll have 1,500 eggs. I’m boiling some right now,” Bruce Guckenberg, one of the head hard-boilers, said earlier this week.
The dyed eggs will be hidden on three baseball fields for three age groups: 3 and younger, 4 to 8 years old and 9 to 12 years old.
In addition, some 400 plastic eggs filled with treats will be hidden. Drawings for bicycles and other prizes will come after the hunt.
The event happens “rain or shine, snow, hail or sleet,” Guckenberg said.
“We’ve had snow on the ground, and we’ve had 4 inches of rain that day. It doesn’t bother the kids. It bothers the parents a little.”
Guckenberg, whose Sully’s Drive-In sponsors the event along with Forks Outfitters, is expecting about 300 children at the hunt.
Based on past experience, he estimates it will take about two minutes for every last one of the hidden eggs to be found.
■ At 11 a.m. sharp Saturday morning, Clallam Bay School on state Highway 112 will hold its community Easter egg hunt.
Admission is free, but children and their families are urged to arrive on time since the hunt is a fast one.
For details, phone the Clallam Bay-Sekiu Chamber of Commerce at 360-963-2339.
■ Sunday morning in Forks, a special Easter breakfast will be served at the Forks Elks Lodge, 941 Merchant Road.
The Forks Emblem Club and Sunshine and Rainbow Day Care are the hosts of the public event from 8 a.m. until 11 a.m., and the menu will include ham, sausage, biscuits and gravy, pancakes, french toast, scrambled eggs, orange juice and coffee.
Admission is $7 for adults and $5 for seniors and children 12 and younger.
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Features Editor Diane Urbani de la Paz can be reached at 360-417-3550 or at diane.urbani@peninsuladailynews.com.
