Eggstravaganza 2009

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Christopher Gross
  • 3rd Wing Public Affairs
ELMENDORF AIR FORCE BASE, Alaska --  What do you get when you mix 15,000 eggs with an abundance amount of kids? 

One huge chaotic Easter egg hunt. 

On April 11 children were everywhere for this year's Eggstravaganza here at Hangar 5.
Inside, thousands of eggs were scattered about everywhere in the opened space about the size a football field. 

At the sound of a siren children jetted in from all angles filling their Easter baskets with as many eggs as they could get their hands on, until there were none left. Once the pandemonium settled, the children returned to their parents and began to reveal what was inside each egg. 

Responsible for stuffing and ensuring the 15,000 eggs were closed for the three different age groups was the service' s staff along with about 70 volunteers. 

The staff and volunteers spent the past week stuffing eggs with prizes for the children. 

There are so many eggs that "you dream about eggs at night," said Shelia Wilson, the 
team coordinator for the 3rd SVS . 

"You can see the floors covered (with eggs), but within a matter of seconds it's all cleaned up," said Wilson who has been helping with this function for the past three years. 

Children ranging from infant to 12 years of age were split up into three groups, infant through 4-years-old, 5-8-years-old and 9-12-years-old. 

With a half hour between the three hunts, the first group started at 9:30 a.m. with the last group beginning at 10:30 a.m. 

When the groups were finished the children began to go through their treasured eggs, if they found a slip of paper, they took it to the main table to claim the toy that was assigned on the paper. 

If the children aren't happy with the toy then they can always exchange it since the supplier of all the toys was Army Air Force Exchange Service. 

All in all it was a happy Easter.