This family oriented event was held at the Washington County Fair Grounds on Saturday, April 23, 2011. The gates opened at 9a.m. on the sunny April morning in Oregon. Children were a bustle with their brightly colored Easter Baskets in hand. The egg hunt began at 10a.m. with the 2 year olds starting the festivities.

The grounds were full of fun things for the children to do and experience. There was a small petting zoo. Admittance to this was free, and cups of food to feed the animals were just $1. The mini zoo had rabbits, sheep, llamas and included animals many children had never seen before. The animals had “human assistants” that stood close by, to help ensure their safety; as well as educate and help the children with the animals.

When the field was prepared for each age groups egg hunt, it was covered in copious amounts of holiday candy. The children happily gathered rather large portions of the sweets and then toddled off merrily. The children’s hunts seemed well organized, and the children were all safe and delighted.

The Washington County Sheriff’s Office had a police car and a very delightful officer present. They had the car opened, and allowed children to climb into the back of the cruiser and see it from the inside. Boys and girls alike waited gleefully in line for their turn. Afterwards, the kind female officer would hand the children a sticker in the shape of a badge.

Children playing in the back of the police cruiser. They had so many questions for the officer.

Our Hero’s the Hillsboro Fire Fire and Rescue Department, had a large fire truck there for the children to climb on and in. Parents took their children’s photos as the climbed high into the seats of the bright red vehicle. A patient firefighter stood proudly stood on each side of the truck and answered questions, helped the children in and out, and then gave them a sticker. They had a sample hose the children were allowed to play with.

Photo of the Firetruck that the children were allowed to climb on and in.

Many other activities were in full swing, there were several blow up slides, pony rides, a bull ride, video games, competition games, vendors, and the Easter Bunny. Most of the activities were fairly priced. Entrance to the park, and egg hunts was free. Parking was easy and the park was not as crowed as this reporter had expected, which is a very good thing for those who attended.

There were two problems with this event, one major, one minor. At the hottest point of the day, there was only one concession stand and they were out of bottled water, this created a minor problem for parents with thirsty and hot children. The events biggest problem was the Moms Easter Egg Hunt. The adult women lined up long before the designated start time, in hopes of getting an egg with a prize in it. After, the lengthy start line was completely jam packed, waves of additional lines stood behind the first row. The organizers of the run stood with a bull horn and tried to warn the women to not push, elbow or fight each other over eggs.

The person with the bull horn then proceeded to tell the women how last year there were two actual fist fights between mothers in front of their children over eggs. While, they were busy giving the crowd this gruesome speech, there was a group of young children behind him towards the back of the field grabbing prize eggs for their mothers. When, start was finally called for the women to begin, the front line raced forward. When, they reached the point in the field where there were prizes, they would gleefully reach down to claim their treasure. Unfortunately, the waves of lines behind them just continued to push forward ramming the first line of women down. Women were pushed, shoved and just short of trampled. It was a hideous sight. Event organizers, had better rethink this portion of the event before women are seriously injured, especially if this event continues to grow. If you avoided the Moms run, the rest of this event was delight for the whole family.