Fire dept. plans egg hunt Saturday

A visit from the Easter Bunny and the chance to hunt for eggs by the basketful should make for a fun Saturday for local children.

The Easter Bunny will make what has become an annual trip to downtown Albany on April 20, visiting in stores and along the street from 11:00 a.m. through the lunch hour until 1:00 p.m. He will probably take a walk through the nearby car show area as well.

Participating merchants will have Easter candy for visiting children during that two-hour time period.

A couple of hours later, youngsters can grab their baskets and join in the hunt for treasures at the annual community-wide Easter egg hunt.

The event, hosted by members of the Albany Volunteer Fire Department at the Webb Park complex, will begin at 3:00 p.m., an hour later than the usual 2:00 p.m. start time.

Saturday afternoon’s egg hunt is open to all local children and their guests, and fire chief Kyle Tischler suggested that families arrive at the park by 2:45 p.m. this Saturday.

He asked that families gather at the east end of the pool parking lot.

“We will go over the rules, thank a few people, and then help you find your age group areas,” he said.

Members of the VFD spend several hours getting ready for the hunt, with about a dozen firefighters setting up the age group areas and hiding over 5,000 eggs.

“It’s always a lot of work getting ready for this event, but it sure is such a pleasure watching tons of kids and families take part,” Tischler said. 

First National Bank donated 100 $1 coins again this year, and hunters who find eggs with vouchers inside can claim the cash prizes.

The egg hunt will be postponed in the event of rain.