A rotten Easter egg hunt

It was a perfect day for an Easter egg hunt. And with the shining brightly on a clear spring day, people came out in earnest to Heckscher Park in Huntington to participate in an event sponsored by Councilman Mark Cuthbertson.

The event should have been filled with the melody of laughter and giggles. Instead, it ended up with a chorus of crying children.

The problem was that the town underestimated how many kids would participate. Instead of the 300, about 1,000 lined up to find their own candy-filled egg.

As you might imagine, once they were let loose, few wound up with a prize.

"We had 1,500 eggs, but we probably could have used 5,000," Cuthbertson said.

At one point, Cuthbertson pulled a $100 bill from his pocket and ushered a staffer to buy more candy. But it was too little, too late.

"We had the best of intentions. Our execution was very poor and I acknowledge that.”

Cuthbertson offered this mea cupla on his Facebook profile:

"Apologies for a very poorly-executed Easter Egg Hunt. We never dreamed we would get that many people. But the blame belongs with me and I take complete responsibility. If we do it again next year, we will have learned a valuable lesson. Sorry in particular to all the disappointed children. Hope everyone has an enjoyable Easter."

The good news? “Some kids had fun and got candy.“

For more on this story, with photos, check out the Village Tattler.

The eggs above were decorated in the traditional Russian and Ukrainian style by members of Holy Trinity Orthodox Church in East Meadow. (March 21, 2010) Photo by Charles Eckert