Under sunny skies on the first Saturday of April, hundreds of boys and girls and their parents crowded Port Clinton’s Lakeview Park for the city’s annual Easter Egg Hunt.

There was a little nip in the air coming from a breeze off nearby Lake Erie, but the children didn’t mind a bit. When the Easter Bunny finally made her appearance in a Port Clinton fire truck, its sirens wailing, the children were ready for the race for candy and toys.

To make it fair, the grassy areas were organized according to age groups, each giving the kids a prime opportunity to take home candy or a prize.

Taking Mayor Mike Snider’s arm for the short stroll to the Lakeview Park grass where 4,500 plastic eggs were scattered, the youngest were ready to fill buckets and bags with the treats.

Port Clinton city administrative assistant Sandy Ostheimer said city volunteers had also prepared a dozen prized Easter Baskets, 500 rubber duckies and a wide variety of treats for the youngsters, from cute and cuddly stuffed toys to ride passes for the Walleye Festival on May 26-30.