Despite the cold blustery weather and gray skies, children gathered at Apponagansett Park on Sunday, March 24 to hastily gather the hundreds of brightly colored plastic easter eggs scattered across the grass and playground equipment. 

Becky Amaral, the program coordinator for the parks and recreation department, has been organizing the event for 12 years. Though the children cleared the park of eggs in a few short minutes, Amaral said it took six hours to stuff the eggs with delightful treats, stickers and toys. 

“I love seeing the kids,” Amaral said. “It’s a great family event.”

The event is free and open to all children. One of those children was Logan Prouls, who said that speed was the key to a successful Easter egg hunt.

“Just run and grab as many eggs as possible,” Prouls said of his egg-hunting strategy. 

While some purists may prefer traditional hard boiled eggs colored with dyes, Prouls said he prefers plastic eggs because they’re easier to grab and they contain treats like Kit Kats, his favorite.

Over the years, Amaral said she’s tried supplementing the Easter egg hunt with other games and activities, but at the end of the day, she said that simpler is better. Amaral has lived in Dartmouth for 26 years. This year, Amaral’s daughter Ally wore the bunny suit.