Wallkill families and residents celebrated the Easter season and weekend with several community egg hunts throughout the rainy Saturday morning.

The first egg hunt, hosted by the Wallkill Lions Club, took place at the Wallkill Public Library at 9 a.m. The second egg hunt took place at Christmas Tree Lane at 11 a.m.

According to Lions Club member Robert Rogers, more than1000 eggs were placed along the Wallkill Public Library grounds and within 10 minutes, they were all collected. “It was exciting to see so many people come out, especially with the threat of rain,” Rogers said.

Two years ago, the egg hunt was canceled due to the initial COVID outbreak. Last year, the Lions Club was able to host a drive-through Easter, according to Sal Patella.

Patella serves as the current Wallkill Lions Club President and was happy to bring back this event with goodie bags distributed to the children at the end.

“We’re happy to be back in person with an Easter Egg hunt again,” Patella said. “To see the joy and the energy on these children’s faces as they scrambled out onto the library lawn this morning, they were so excited, their parents were happy to do this as well. It’s always good to be able to provide this to the community.”

Children and families then made their way to the town hall and waited in line to take several pictures with the Easter Bunny. As the day went on, clouds continued to loom overhead and drizzles here and there kept coming.

Later on in the morning, one by one, families arrived for the second egg hunt of the day at Christmas Tree Lane. The previous year, the farm was able to host an egg hunt with safety protocols and health restrictions and the year before that, it was ultimately canceled due to COVID.

Now making its return, the egg hunt at the Christmas Tree Lane took place on the six to seven acre tree farm with over 4,000 eggs to be collected according to owner Joe DeGroodt. Special golden eggs were placed around the farm and with one collected, the winner would be able to collect Easter basket arrangements prepared by the DeGroodts and other donors.

“I absolutely love seeing the families and the kids come out,” Joe said. “We love doing this [Easter Egg hunt].”

According to Joe, the eggs were hidden all across the grounds by members of Boy Scout Troop 33 from Walden. The scouts also helped with traffic control and other needs throughout the morning for the hunt.

As guests made their way into the barn, Katrina DeGroodt greeted and signed in guests to prepare them for the hunt. Guests also had the opportunity to eat treats, grab a warm drink and take pictures with the Easter Bunny.

Even with the rain clouds looming overhead, the egg hunt was a big success for the DeGroodts. “We are so thankful for the turnout that we got today,” Katrina said.

Families scrambled out onto the field and collected as many eggs as they could and enjoyed the rest of the morning.