MOOSE kids enjoy Easter egg hunt on the beach

4THE SUN ISLAND NEWS IN BRIEF

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FILE PHOTO Children dash out onto the beach to collect Easter eggs at a previous Sandbar egg hunt.

Easter egg hunt at the Sandbar

The Sandbar Restaurant’s 34th annual Easter Egg Hunt will be this Saturday, April 16, from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. The popular event, sponsored by The Sun newspaper, is held on the beach by the restaurant and draws hundreds of children, parents and spectators each year. The hunt begins promptly at 9 a.m., so participants are encouraged to arrive early. Once again, there will be a bestdecorated bonnet contest with prizes in both adult and youth categories. There will also be a special appearance by the Easter Bunny. The Sandbar is located at 100 Spring Ave. in Anna Maria.

Queen in hiding now worth $111,864

The jackpot for the AMI Moose Lodge’s weekly Queen of Hearts drawing on Wednesday, April 13, has increased to $111,864. During the April 6 drawing, envelope #16 was opened and contained the 4 of spades, which means the Queen of Hearts playing card was still hiding. The nonpresent holder of ticket #16 received a $300 consolation prize. Three $200 door prizes and three $125 door prizes were also given out. The 50/50 raffle ticket sales totaled $2,180 and the winner received $1,090. Queen of Hearts ticket sales for the week leading up to the April 6 drawing totaled $15,182. A significant portion of the proceeds generated by the Queen of Hearts drawings assists Moose Charities and the AMI Moose Lodge’s charitable efforts.

Chamber Golf Tournament seeking sponsors

The Anna Maria Island Chamber of Commerce is seeking sponsors and raffle prizes for the 23rd Annual Chamber Golf Tournament, scheduled for Friday, May 13 at IMG Academy Golf Club in Bradenton. Contact the Chamber at 941-778-1541 to donate prizes. Twenty-two foursomes have already registered, but there are still foursomes available. The fee is $500 per team or $135 per golfer. For dinner only, the price is $40 per person. Last year, more than $21,000 in prizes were donated. When given the command, these youngsters dashed to the Easter eggs lying on the sand.

JOE HENDRICKS | SUN

Moose kids enjoy Easter egg hunt

The Easter festivities also included a jellybean guessing contest and a free lunch.

BY JOE HENDRICKS

SUN CORRESPONDENT | jhendricks@amisun.com

BRADENTON BEACH – Kids swarmed onto the beach at the Anna Maria Island Moose Lodge Saturday for the annual Easter egg hunt, searching for 1,000 brightly colored plastic eggs.

Upon arrival at Moose Lodge #2188, the youngsters were given felt Easter baskets to place their finds in during the ensuing egg hunt. Each basket contained bunny ears for the children to wear, a small toy, a plush toy and candy.

The children then gathered under the covered porch facing the Gulf of Mexico. When addressing the children before the hunt began, AMI Moose Lodge Senior Regent Joy Shames said, “There are plenty of eggs. Don’t knock people over, and have fun.”

Shortly after 10 a.m., about 50 kids divided into two age groups made simultaneous dashes in pursuit of the candy-filled eggs assembled by the Women of the Moose volunteers.

Children 5 years old and younger quickly discovered and grabbed the 500 eggs lying in plain view atop the sand. Those 6 years old and up had to work a little harder to find the 500 eggs partially buried in the sand in their separate Easter egg hunting area.

When asked about the day’s festivities, Shames said, “We are having an Easter egg hunt for all these wonderful children of the Moose members.”

After the egg hunt, the children came inside for additional festivities that included a contest in which each was asked to guess how many jellybeans were in a jar. The winner in each of the three age groups won that jar full of jellybeans.

The children were also treated to a free lunch of chicken tenders, French fries and juice boxes, and 10 of the lunch baskets were marked with a surprise blue dot on the bottom which earned that child a small bag of Russell Stover candies.

“Happy Easter and God bless the kids,” Women of the Moose volunteer Sam Watters said, as the inside festivities continued.

JOE HENDRICKS | SUN Above, Tori and Bindi Schield were the first to enter the Moose Lodge Saturday morning, accompanied by their grandparents, Doreen and Steve Schield, from Longboat Key. Right, Rosalyn Hanson, Elena Lopez and Thomas Hanson enjoyed the Easter egg hunt, accompanied by Russell and Alexandra Hanson.