Egg hunters do their work quickly.

Byline: Lynne Klaft

LANCASTER - More than a hundred children dressed in their Easter Sunday best and clutching baskets of all kinds were greeted by the Easter Bunny on Lancaster's Town Green yesterday morning.

At the stroke of 9 from the bell tower of the First Church of Christ Unitarian, the second annual Lancaster Easter Egg Hunt was on.

The children rushed into the green and around the buildings searching out 1,500 brightly colored plastic eggs stuffed with candy, according to Stanley B. Starr, Jr.

"This is an old-fashioned, long-cherished tradition that brings joy for so many kids," said Mr. Starr, who helped coordinate the donation of the 100 pounds of candy.

"When I was a lad, we used to have an egg hunt every Easter. The temperature was low today but spirits were high," said Mr. Starr.

The Lancaster 4-H Club raked, cleared brush, and moved snow to ready the Town Green on Saturday, and arrived at 7 yesterday morning to cordon off sections of the green and hide eggs.

Club members stuffed the plastic eggs with candy and 100 eggs with gold dollar coins donated by Workers' Credit Union.

"What did you feed your chickens to make them lay pink and green plastic eggs?" a smiling parent of a toddler asked a club member.

Selectman Shawn S. Winsor, coordinator of the egg hunt, credits his wife, Valerie, for the inspiration for the event.

"Last year the floors of Town Hall had been refinished, and Shawn wanted the public to see the work that had been done. I said, `Have an Easter egg hunt.' People did go in, sat in the chairs ... it was pretty cold, last year, too!" said Mrs. Winsor.

Ben E. Farrow, 17, a sophomore at Nashoba Regional High School and a 12-year 4-H club member, said, "It's a fun event. I'm doing this for Peggy (Corbett, 4-H leader) and the little kids."

The older 4-H club members helped the little children hunt for eggs and manned stations around the green, making sure no one strayed outside of the areas where the eggs were hidden.

The Easter Bunny had no official comment, but waved his hands happily at cars that honked, gave out candy to arriving children and posed for pictures and videos for more than an hour.

Although Mr. Winsor claims that only the real Easter Bunny would visit Lancaster, his suit was donated by Oakridge Farm Stand.

And next year ... Mr. Starr is already making plans.

"How about an egg toss? Wouldn't that be fun? And a guess how many jelly beans in the jar contest. We have to make this last a little longer!" said Mr. Starr.

For this year, the children found all 1,500 eggs in less than five minutes.

ART: PHOTOS

CUTLINE: (1) Children run onto the Town Green in search of eggs. (2) Children wait for the ringing of the 9 a.m. church bells to start the egg hunt. (3) A boy and his mother walk into the First Church of Christ Unitarian to look for eggs.

PHOTOG: T&G Staff Photos/RICK CINCLAIR