"She actually tried to make a break for it twice, so I have to hold her," Carly Hose said. "She not old enough to really understand what's going on, but she is old enough to start to participate."
Sarah Bowman, 39, of Fairplay, took her daughters Carly, 9, and Amelia, 2, to the hunt. Though the sun shone, strong cool winds whipped across the fields.
Amelia, 2, spun around lightheartedly in a springy flowered and gingham dress, bundled with a thick pink sweater. Carly was a bit more earnest, sizing up the array of eggs before her.
"I like getting stuff inside the eggs -- the candy and toys," Carly Bowman said.
Sarah Bowman said she thought it was wonderful that the recreation department and the museum put on the event.
"It's so nice that they do this for families, so we try to support it," she said.
Recreation Department Director Jaime Dick said more than 5,000 eggs were strewn over roughly one half of a square mile of fields. The fields were separated into areas for five age groups, which received the signal to hunt for eggs in alternating turns.
Friends of the Rural Heritage Museum volunteer Mary Poffenberger of Sharpsburg marveled at the display of eggs strewn across the grass.
"I don't call this an egg hunt. This is an egg scramble," she said.
Poffenberger's 4-year-old granddaughter Annabella Poffenberger, also of Sharpsburg, said she had fun getting eggs. But her favorite part of the day was meeting the Easter Bunny.
"His hand feels soft," Annabella said. "And he had shoes on."
Todd and Melody Stocks, 39 and 41, of Hagerstown, are repeat patrons of the annual event, which began in 2001. Their children Sarah, 4, and Todd Jr., 7, hunted for eggs on opposite ends of the field.
"(The egg hunt) was great this year. Everything ran so smoothly," Melody Stocks said.
Sophia Williams, 4, hopped across the field wearing bunny ears and swinging a lavender basket. Sophia's father, Paul Williams, said he thought the event was good for the community.
"It's good to come out and enjoy the day. It's a little windy, but it's fun and it's free," Williams said. "In this economy, it's a nice, low-cost event, and it brings the family together."
