Edgy egg hunters dodge rain drops.

Byline: Andrea Damewood The Register-Guard

Strategy. Jostling for position. Sprinting for prime goods. Ominous clouds. Cavities.

Easter egg hunts require a tough shell.

Finding a lucky break in Saturday's rain, about 1,000 treat-hungry children toted baskets, pillow cases and plastic bags, ready to ransack a baseball field littered with goodies outside of Fairfield Baptist Church in Eugene.

Waiting for the first group, the 3 and under set, to collect their bounty, 6-year-old Paige Pratt of Springfield got together a plan that involved a lot of sugar.

"Candy's my favorite - I went to the dentist, and I had seven cavities," she said proudly, as her mother, Angie, rolled her eyes. "My favorite holiday is Easter, it's the greatest!"

After the smallest hunters cleared the diamond, volunteers sprinkled toys, dyed eggs, candy, chips and sodas in the outfield to be collected by the children between ages 4 and 6.

Gone were toddlers ambling about, picking up whatever suited their fancy. Now, small groups of interlopers tried to infiltrate the field through breaks in the fence, only to be shooed back.

The group waited breathlessly for organizer Anita DeVaney to signal the start of the hunt. These kids had their eyes on the big prizes.

But, despite their youthful enthusiasm for free stuff, DeVaney has seen only one child knock down another to steal their Easter treasures in her 36 years of organizing the egg hunts.

"And that's not never going to happen again," she said. "Sometimes I seem very domineering, and I don't want to be. But if I'm not, it's just chaotic."

After DeVaney hollered "Go!", a mad dash erupted.

Six-year-old Isabel Rose of Eugene used her long legs to be the first to reach a giant stuffed lion, scooping him up in one arm.

Rose, along with the other children who nabbed plush toys, suddenly found grabbing more goodies problematic: She scrambled about, trying with one hand to pick up and put candy into her pillow case, until finally leaving the large Leo with her mother.

Meanwhile, her sister, Nakkia Stanberg, waited until the 9-year-olds were allowed on the field, where she planned on picking up some toys and coloring supplies.

"I'm bored," she said, pulling her blue-checked pillow over her head.

Egg hunts are fun, she said, but her favorite part of the holiday is "how we get to celebrate Jesus rising from the dead."

DeVaney, a devout Catholic, began the tradition in southern California for her children, and after moving to Eugene in 1986, continued it at the Bethel area church.

Her event is open to children 12 or younger, with an eye toward benefitting homeless, disabled and low-income youths of all faiths, she said.

DeVaney, 58, works year-round to secure donations of money, candy and other items for the hunt. M&Ms has given candy for the last several years, but this year was the last, leaving her worried about securing a sugar source for 2008.

But, donors or no, the hunt will go on for as long as DeVaney can boil an egg.

"I'm enjoying it," she said, adding that she'll quit when "the Lord takes me away."