On a cool morning beneath blue skies a little after 9 a.m. last Saturday, April 5, two women walked into a small building at Stanford Recreation Park: Recreation Department Secretary Sara Knickerbocker and Wendy Burton, the former town supervisor.
A few minutes later, Knickerbocker walked back out. Burton was nowhere to be seen.
In her place, a large, fluffy, human-sized Easter Bunny emerged and took a seat on a park bench.
The 2026 Stanford Easter egg hunt, scheduled for 10 a.m. that morning, was about to begin.
“I love doing this,” said Burton. “It’s so sweet. Some of the kids are frightened, which is one reason why I sit down, so I’m less imposing. But some of them just run up to me and hug me.”
This particular bunny is not especially imposing, Burton acknowledged. She asked to continue playing the role after retiring in January and, at 5-foot-1, cuts a gentle figure.
Within minutes, young children were gathering at her side — some enthusiastically, others with a bit of parental encouragement.
“It’s like Santa Claus,” one mother, smartphone in hand, explained to her skeptical toddler.
Bob Barnett / The New Pine Plains Herald
Sophia Osofsky, of Pine Plains, arrived with her two children, Parker Hadfield and Kolbie Hadfield, both eager for their photo with the bunny.
“We’ve played in this playground many times,” she said, “but this is our first Easter egg hunt.”
The popular event, which has taken place in Stanford for more than 30 years, drew 180 children this year.
“They come from all over,” said Town Supervisor Julia Descoteaux, who had just left Sparc Park Playground, where she had been “hiding” brightly colored empty plastic eggs. “We get a lot from Pine Plains, from Clinton.”
The event draws not only children from the public school system, she said, but also those who are homeschooled or attend private or parochial schools.
“So the Easter Egg hunt just brings folks together,” Descoteaux said.
By 9:45 a.m., the parking lot was full, and children were already eyeing the playground entrance.
“We’ve come many years,” said Luis Rayes, a Stanford resident attending with his four children. “They enjoy it.”
The plan was simple. Each child received a small basket to collect eggs, which could then be traded in for a goodie bag. Recreation Director Lauren Osterman had assembled 200 of the bags ahead of time, filled with toys, crafts and candy. She also had supplies ready for 15 more, just in case.
Six of the eggs were golden. Whoever found one would receive a gift certificate for ice cream at Stewart’s.
At exactly 10 a.m., Osterman and Knickerbocker, joined by volunteers, let the children into the playground, with careful instructions to line up inside the fence — children under 2 on one side, older kids on the other — until the signal was given to begin.
Bob Barnett / The New Pine Plains Herald
Then came a burst of controlled, joyful chaos, as children dashed under slides, up stairs and into corners, scooping up eggs as fast as they could. There were more than enough to go around.
“We used to do this the weekend before Easter but now we do it on Easter weekend, and it got bigger,” said Osterman, who has served as recreation director since 2020 and has been involved with the hunt since 2017.
It is one of the town’s two most popular events, she said, along with Trunk or Treat in the fall.
Soon, children with adults nearby lined up to dump their eggs into a container and collect their goodie bags.
When Emmet, a toddler attending with his parents, Rebecca and Ben, and his baby brother, Elias, tipped out his bucket, a golden egg tumbled into the mix. Asked whether he was getting ice cream, he nodded, perhaps not fully understanding the significance of the small card in his hand.
“He’s only two,” his mother explained. After the ice cream, though, he may be eager to return next year.