Estill Springs Nazarene Church’s annual Community Egg Hunt on March 28 proved to be a great kicker leading up to Easter Sunday with an onslaught of children on hand vying to collect eggs via a long-standing tradition.

Jennifer Ray, an Estill Naz pastor and organizer, said the event at Estill Springs City Park tends to draw about 1,000 children who scurry to collect more than 21,000 plastic eggs filled with candy.

She said the event’s format has stayed virtually the same for years, other than growing larger, with the main goal being to spread a loving atmosphere throughout the community.

“This is a great way to love our community,” Ray said, adding that the event draws family and friends together. “It’s also a great way to spread love through our church.

“We do this so that a lot of people can have a lot of fun.”

Ray said a united effort takes place annually with about 60 volunteers working together to put on the largescale event.

The eggs may be gathered up by children in mere minutes, but she said the road leading up to the egg-hunt day is lengthy with volunteers stuffing eggs with candy several months in advance.

“Everybody just pitches in to help out, sharing their love and generosity,” Ray said.

She paid special tribute to tellers at Citizens Community Bank’s Decherd branch who have donated their time and effort to ensure plenty of eggs are on hand to make the day memorable.

“They are a huge part of this,” Ray said, adding that the tellers probably fill 14,000 of the 21,000 eggs placed on the City Park grounds. “We’re very thankful for that.”

Each year, after the eggs are collected, candy is removed immediately following the hunt with the plastic shells being returned to be refilled for the next year’s event.

Cindi Wyllie, a greatgrandmother who just moved to Estill Springs from Connecticut, brought 2-year-olds Jaydin McCollough and Abigayle Margillo to the egg hunt at Estill Springs City Park and said the experience was extremely enjoyable.

She compared the differences between Southern and Northern egg hunts.

“It’s a lot bigger here than up North,” she said, referring to the Estill Naz event. “It’s very clean and well-kept with everything they’ve done. They’ve set this up very well, and it’s very well-planned.”