Easter Bunny gets help from Nazarene Church and local Optimists

The Easter Bunny came hop, hop, hopping down the Maricopa-Casa Grande Highway this weekend. He ended up at Rotary Park where he got a lot of help from some of his Maricopa friends.

On Saturday, the Maricopa Church of the Nazarene hosted an Easter egg hunt for children from age one through the sixth grade. Pastor Todd Sharp, his wife Stephanie, who is the principal of Santa Rosa Elementary School, and their six children as well as four other families helped out the Easter Bunny by stuffing and hiding almost 5,000 plastic eggs.

A. J. Piazza brought a book bag to hold all his eggs.

Best friends, Shaia Sharp (left) and Sarah Shively could hardly wait for the hunt to begin.

Pastor Sharp welcomed the participants and encouraged anyone interested in becoming part of the Maricopa Church of the Nazarene to sign its guest book. For more information, contact Sharp at 568-9054.

Pastor Todd Sharp (far right) welcomed the participants.

The Maricopa Optimist Club held their 19th annual Easter Egg Hunt on Sunday. An area was designated for the very youngest children while another section of the grass was reserved for older hunters. Lots of prizes were available in several categories, including most eggs found.

Natalie Baber wore her Easter dress and brought a matching basket.

The local Optimists are dedicated to sponsoring projects for the youth of Maricopa. A week ago they held their annual bicycle safety check (see related story). Anyone interested in membership or helping with such local events should contact Grace Gomez at 568-9407 or Ted Ledbetter at 568-2679.

Optimists Harold Klepka (left) and Ted Ledbetter helped organize the event.

Children and adults had a wonderful time at both hunts.
The Easter Bunny certainly enjoyed the events. When asked about next year, he said, simply, “I’ll be back!”