Escalon Kiwanis Club, the Escalon FFA and members of the Key Club – student arm of the Kiwanis – joined forces to host the annual Easter Egg Hunt at El Portal Middle School on Saturday.

The eagerly anticipated ‘hunt’ draws dozens of youngsters to the school campus for the day-before-Easter festivities each year, with well over 1,000 plastic eggs scattered and hidden in four different hunting areas. Divided by age, the hunters take off when the signal is given and collect all the eggs they can find. This year, said officials, plastic eggs were filled with candy and other treats like stickers, while there were more than 100 special ‘golden’ eggs also spread out in the four specific areas, which finders could turn in for special prize baskets.

“We did 105 (big) baskets,” said Escalon High School Key Club Advisor Rick Heflin.

Between the three groups, they were able to provide the traditional Easter baskets for the golden egg collectors, and every participant received a goodie bag along with keeping the treat-filled eggs they found.

The Easter Bunny also made an appearance and took time to pose for photos with youngsters before and after the hunt. With the signal to start given promptly at 10 a.m., the kids swarmed the fields behind El Portal in search of the scattered treasure. It was over quickly, wrapping up in less than a half hour.

Kiwanis Club members hosted a coffee, juice and pastries bar for the event as well.