Mt. Prospect Lions bring Easter joy to visually impaired children

The Mount Prospect Lions Club is holding an Easter egg hunt for visually impaired children from 1 to 3 p.m. Sunday, April 12, at the Westbrook School at Gillet Center, 201 S. Evanston Ave., Arlington Heights. The specially designed Easter eggs beep and talk to the children.

Children will exchange the beeping/talking eggs for candy and prizes. An ice-cream social will follow. Children with normal vision can participate by wearing a blindfold to experience what it means to lose the use of their eyes.

The Lions are continuing an annual tradition begun by the Telephone Pioneers of America in the late 1960s. Lions club member Tony Baumstark, a past president of the Telephone Pioneers, was instrumental in having the Mount Prospect Lions Club help out with the egg hunt starting in 2001. It was Baumstark who suggested that the Lions Club run the event if the Pioneers supplied the special beeping eggs.

The original beeping eggs will be complemented by "Hide 'Em & Find 'Em Eggs" donated to the club in 2009 by Techno Source, a privately-held Hong Kong-based toy company. They call out five different speech lines and emit three different sounds. They come in six colors: purple, pink, green, yellow, orange and blue; each with a bunny or baby chick character inside. They automatically shut off after 30 minutes and are large enough to store candy.

"Some Lions members get tears in their eyes while they help these children," said Baumstark. "I think that our club members truly become Lions when they serve at an event like this one. How can you not have your heart be touched by these children who laugh, smile, and simply enjoy themselves?"