A Basket Ball: The squishy rush at Jackson Park

In a sign of the change of season, bright eggs nestled next to dark brown oak leaves, often atop wet grass or outright mud.

About 8,000 plastic eggs awaited little hands to scoop them up (though it was often Mom or Dad doing the actual collection).

For Brayden Fogle, 4, the hunt was as much a race to the top of the hill. With his dad, Hood River native Jarrod Fogle close behind, Brayden ducked under the pink tape, dashed across the width of the park lawn, ignoring the many eggs on the way, and sprinted up the slope on the east side of the lawn, where he and many other kids had spied a thick collection of eggs. Brayden was among the first to the top, and there were plenty to go around as dozens of kids and parents arrived for the same treasures.

The day started with the annual Safety Fair, where the fire and police departments, County Prevention Office, Providence Health, One Community Health, and other organizations offered bike helmet fittings and gave safety, nutrition and wellness tips, with prizes including stickers and pencils.

The egg hunt started promptly at 11 a.m., just after the Easter Bunny and Easter Panda, for the kids’ enjoyment, dodged catapulted water balloons — as if the ground wasn’t soggy enough.

But the sun was out and the kids did not mind a little mud, and if they didn’t get their fill of eggs, volunteers had even more to put out after the squishy rush was over.