Politics & Government

Kids Flood Heckscher Park for Egg Hunt

But many participants left disappointed.

It appears the Town of Huntington-sponsored egg hunt at Heckscher Park Friday was a victim of its own success.

Town officials said 1,600 plastic eggs were filled with stickers and jelly beans at the first egg hunt held by the town in 40 years. But about 1,000 children showed up, leaving some children disappointed.

"This was a disaster," said Andrea Russo, ready to leave the park at 11:15 a.m. "I was very worried about the kids' getting trampled, too. I told one of the police about it and he said, 'If you don't want to be here, leave.' I guess we will go home and have a hunt in our backyard."

Another parent, Mike Caraccio, also said he was worried for kid safety.

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"Some of the places they hid the eggs were dangerous, like high up on the fence around the playground,  and they had 12-year-olds with two-year-olds," Caraccio said. "Some kids hopped over the fence. The little guys were trying to get through the gate but couldn't get it open. They were almost trampled. It turned in to a big mosh pit."

But other parents were more forgiving, chalking up the chaos to inexperience.

"I know this is the first time they've held it in many years so hopefully they will live and learn from this year's experience," said Jill Carrella.

A.J. Carter, Huntington's spokesman, said the town would make some changes for next year.

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"There's no substitute for experience," Carter said. "We found out that the community definitely wants this event and we have learned what does work and, maybe more importantly what doesn't. This was a response far beyond what we expected."

Carter also said that he had heard that someone in the crowd may have started the hunt before officials were ready.

"We plannaed a brief program so we could explain the mechanics of how it would work and to encourage cooperation and what prizes would be given, prior to the start," he said.

Supervisor Frank Petrone added that the town expected 200 people.

"We expected it to build slowly, much like our annual Halloween event does," he said. "We are happy so many responded and we will improve it for next year. We've learned some things, such as we should have different age groups go at different times, that we will definitely use going forward."

By noon, the park was back to normal.

"If you look around now, everyone appears happy," Carter said. "Kids are running and playing on the playground and seeing the ducks and swans."


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