Easter egg hunt in Bradenton draws thousands

BRADENTON -- Under clear skies that held no humidity, the ninth annual G.T. Bray Community Egg Hunt sponsored by The Church At Bradenton Sunday afternoon drew thousands of children from babies to elementary age and their adult sidekicks.

The most interesting sights were many, but the highlight reel would have to include:

Big, burly, Chuck Bloedel, wearing a Pittsburgh Steelers jersey, came in from Pittsburgh to take his grandchildren to the egg hunt. The three kids, who obviously adore him by the way they were clinging to hands and arms, included Jada Banks, 9, Jordan Banks, 8 and Jolie Banks, 5.

After a trip to the five "bounce houses" at the egg hunt, Bloedel was ready to get serious. He gave the pre-egg hunt "Mean Joe Greene" pep talk for getting the most eggs.

"You gotta tackle sometimes," Bloedel told the kids.

After her grandfather's coaching, Jada, wearing a pretty red dress, decided to simply use her speed to outrun everyone to the eggs and she didn't need to do any tackling.

A tired but happy William Sallee, experiential director of The Church At Bradenton, estimated the crowd at between 3,000 and 4,000. That's about 2,000 families. The families enjoyed five bounce houses, free popcorn, cotton candy and face painting, a bicycle giveaway and a photo op with the Easter Bunny.

Spring break may have kept the numbers below last year's turnout, but there were still a lot of egg hunters out there on a day when it stayed dry and it was not humid, Sallee said.

"I think it went great," Sallee added. "The weather held off. We had a great day. Parents are loving it, kids are loving it. We gave out lots of cotton candy and popcorn. There's a line to meet the Easter Bunny. Our prayers are that people realize this is a great time and we want them to know God loves them and we love them, too."

Dressed in a robin's egg blue dress with matching bow in her hair, Emma Rager, 4, of Bradenton, was smiling after the egg hunt, having claimed her fair share of eggs. Emma has had cerebral palsy since birth. But did it slow her down in the egg hunt? Heck no. Even using a walker, she held her own with the other kids.

"She is very fast," said Melody Wakefield, Emma's grandmother. "She can out-run you."

Emma never misses the hunt, said her mother, Toni Wakefield, who was also at the event, cheering her daughter on.

"She is like any other 4-year-old girl," Toni Wakefield said of Emma. "Her hair has to be perfect. Her bow has to match her shoes. She's a normal kid. She just does everything a little different."

"She had a lot of fun," Melody Wakefield added.

The egg hunt truly draws a diverse crowd. One of the best stories of the day was that of Mariia Davydova with was at the hunt with her two young children and her good friend, Mariia Sherstinova.

The two women, who have the exact same first name with two i's, are about the same age and both from St. Petersburg, Russia, actually met in Manatee County, at a beach on Anna Maria Island.

"Mariia's little baby was smiling at me so I went to talk to her and we discovered we had all these things in common," Sherstinova said.

The women said Russia doesn't have the tradition of an Easter Bunny and Easter is not celebrated there until April or May. By their smiles, the two friends seemed to be delighted to be celebrating this Easter season in Bradenton with bunnies, eggs and Easter in March.

Richard Dymond, Herald reporter, can be reached at 941-745-7072 or contact him via Twitter@RichardDymond.

This story was originally published March 20, 2016 at 6:34 PM with the headline "Easter egg hunt in Bradenton draws thousands ."