Easter egg hunt draws crowd

The annual Clovis Easter egg hunt 9 a.m. Saturday at Hillcrest Park brought out several hundred adults and children into the chilly windy morning.

CNJ staff photo: Tony Bullocks

Courtenie Madrid, 3, of Clovis proudly shows off the bounty from her first Easter egg hunt Saturday at Hillcrest Park. Courtenie said she was very happy because she found a lot of Easter eggs.

Children of all ages dashed around with Easter baskets in hand, smiles on their faces, joking and playing with each other, eager to hunt for eggs.

Hillcrest Park Zoo director Vince Romero said about 9,000 eggs were placed in the area between the basketball courts and the dog park for children to find.

According to assistant zoo director Mark Yannotti, people started showing up at 8 a.m.

Here is what some of the Easter egg hunters said about the hunt:

Rylee Roybal, 8, of Portales

"My favorite part of the Easter egg hunt was the candy. I want to come back next year. I'm going to my cousin's house tomorrow for Easter."

Margaret Beachum, 12, of Clovis

"My favorite part was the eggs with the candy, Starburst and chocolate. I found like 30 eggs. Hopefully my friends get a chance to get eggs tomorrow in another Easter egg hunt. I'm going to find more eggs in another Easter egg hunt at my family's house tomorrow."

Jeremiah Maes, 11, of Clovis

"This is my first time coming to the Easter egg hunt. I had fun getting eggs. I found around 10 eggs with Tootsie Rolls and chocolate. On Sunday I'm probably going to church with my family and hang out and barbecue."

Ignacio Acuna, 11, of Clovis

"I enjoyed catching the eggs and finding the candies that are in them. I found like 15 eggs. I would tell my friends it was about having a great time. On Easter I'm going to church and going home and spend time with my family and eat."