The Solon Optimist Club held an Easter Egg Hunt Saturday, April 16 at the Solon Nature and Recreation Area (SNRA) for 111 kids.
Club President Joe Krob said it was the 19th time the club has held the event.
“We used to do it out at Lake MacBride where it was more of a ‘hunt,’ hiding the eggs amongst the trees, and then we brought it town. It’s been at Lakeview and then over here. Now it’s more of an ‘egg gathering’ than a hunt.” Several areas on the east end were sectioned off by age group with hundreds of plastic eggs containing candy scattered about. “It is like a swarm of locusts (when the kids are turned loose), they’re just gone.”
The Optimists are a service organization with the motto “The friend of Youth.” The first Optimist Club was founded in Buffalo, New York in 1911, and since then nearly 3,000 clubs (1,427 in the United States) with over 80,000 members, have been established in more than 20 countries under the banner of Optimist International.
“It’s all youth activities,” Krob explained. “We do the Easter Egg hunt, a bike rodeo, we do a bingo stand during Beef Days, a kid’s fishing derby, and the Tri-Star basketball event (shooting, passing, and dribbling).” The club also engages in fundraising with the goal of providing for needs in the community, usually kid-related. “Probably our biggest thing was we donated $10,000 to help purchase a piano at the high school for the Performing Arts Center. We’ve helped donate to the splash pad, it just depends on what is going on in the community.”
An upcoming fundraiser is the club’s Avenue of Flags program, which places an American flag in front of a home or business on Memorial Day, Flag Day, July 4th, Labor Day, and Veterans Day.
Information can be found at www.solonoptimist.org.
A young boy sprints as he participates in the 19th Easter Egg hunt held by the Solon Optimist Club Saturday, April 16 at the Solon Nature and Recreation Area.