Brownies give Easter Bunny a hand at egg hunt

Sleepy Hollow will hold its annual Easter Egg Hunt on Saturday, April 3, the day before Easter.

For many years I have praised the work of the volunteers of the Sleepy Hollow Service Club for the many delightful events that they have sponsored on the Fourth of July and Halloween as well as at Easter and Christmas time.

However for the Easter Egg Hunt, there is a group of volunteers who have long gone unnoticed even though its work is of great importance. Its members are the girls of Brownie Troop 377 at Sleepy Hollow Elementary School. These girls are some of the Easter Bunny's biggest helpers because their job is to fill over 2,500 plastic eggs with treats.

Every year, Brownie Troop 377 has assumed this responsibility and through the years as its members have moved up to become Girl Scouts, new girls come to take their place. Wendy Rush, who is the Brownie leader, is very proud of the girls and says it takes the 8- and 9-year-olds only about 90 minutes to complete this task.

So here's to the 13 third-graders for their hard work and nimble fingers. They are Megan Rush, Mary Ehmann, Jenna Wolfe, Jenny Lundquist, Amber Phillips, Sophie Schumacher, Sarah LaVigna, Emma Warnke, Hayley Holtz, Bella Sobota, Mallori Poremba, Abbey Bruna and Karina Mendenhall.

The Sleepy Hollow Service Club is always grateful to have the Brownies do this as their community service project.

The Easter Egg Hunt begins promptly at 10 a.m. at Sabatino Park. Some of the eggs will contain a certificate for special prizes. So that every child will have a chance at gathering a few eggs the hunt has been divided into several categories and areas of the field have been cordoned off for each group. There are five age categories: 3 years old and younger, preschool and kindergarten, first and second grades, third and fourth grades, and fifth to eighth grades. This year, there will also be a section for children with special needs.

Service Club members are always on the watch to make certain that every child gets at least one egg. After the eggs are collected, children are requested to take out the candy or prize and bring the empty plastic eggs to a collection point so that the eggs can be used again next year.

As a reward for their conservation efforts, they will each receive a candy bar. The Easter Bunny will show up; so, bring your camera so that you can get a photo with you, your child or even your pet.

Crisis Center drive: Sleepy Hollow Elementary School plans many events during the school year that enable its students to make a difference. For the month of April, students will be collecting hotel travel-size toiletries for the Community Crisis Center in Elgin. If you are planning on going away during spring break or if you have some of these items like shampoo, conditioner, lotions or other items saved from previous trips, you can bring them to the school entrance where there is a drop box.

The Community Crisis Center is a nonprofit United Way supported organization that provides housing and counseling for women and children in crisis situations.