Ethan and Brooklyn Buhler had a plan.
“We were just going to run and grab,” 11-year old Ethan said.
“I was going to start at the end and just get whatever I could,” his 9-year old sister added, noting they “scoped out” the place before the madhouse began.
They were just two of approximately 1,000 children who participated in the 11th annual Great Easter Egg Hunt last Saturday morning at Cooper Park, which was sponsored by 102.3 The Coyote radio station and various merchants.
According to morning show host Chuck O’Brien, over 5,000 brightly colored plastic eggs – which were assembled by the Hub City Senior Center - and an equal number of Peeps were scattered throughout the park. As in other years, the park was roped off into different sections for the different age groups.
“We couldn’t have done this without all our sponsors,” he said. “They really stepped up for this. It kind of warms your heart.”
“This is one of the biggest turnouts that we’ve had,” the station’s program director and operations manager Kris Wexell added.

“It’s a beautiful day, and it’s Easter,” Nicole Buhler said, explaining why theycame out. She said her family comes to Rochelle from Davis Junction every week for Brooklyn’s dancing lessons. “We heard about the egg hunt and decided to come.”
Like Ethan and Brooklyn, many children went for the eggs first and then went back for the Peeps.
“I guess the kids like plastic eggs better,” one grandmother said.

“I saw something with a golden wrapper,” Brooklyn said. “But it was just a wrapper and I was sad.”
Ethan and Brooklyn weren’t the only ones from out of town.
Three-year old Bristol Couch, dressed pretty in pink, came all the way from Georgia.
Her mother, Brandy, explained that they’re in Rochelle because her husband is involved in a local construction project. “We live in a bus and travel so much, this is her first (egg hunt),” she said of her daughter.
Although they didn’t come from quite so far away, Cheryl Snyder said she and her five-year old daughter, Brielle Reese, of Northwestern Indiana were visiting her aunt, Vickie Snyder-Chura, and decided to participate as well. Brielle ended up with five Peeps and a bucket of eggs.
 
Unable to wait until he got home, one local youngster – Zane Florence of Hillcrest – decided to try out one of his five boxes of Peeps. “It tastes like pancakes and syrup,”
the five-year old Hillcrest boy said. “It’s sweet.”