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Raleigh, N.C. — Don't expect a basket full of candy after a trip to one of Raleigh parks' Easter egg hunts this year.
Instead, the city is hoping to emphasize healthy eating and physical activity instead of a mad candy scramble. The hunts are scheduled for 11 a.m., March 23, at 10 parks across the city, including Pullen Park, Brier Creek Community Center, Anderson Point and Millbrook Exchange Community Center.
This year, eggs will be filled with snacks and prizes rather than candy. The list includes stickers, tattoos, erasers, bubbles, crayons, finger puppets and bouncy balls. Some prizes, such as pencils, may be scattered around the hunt area, but not in an actual egg.
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Some eggs also will have pretzels, Goldfish crackers or fruit snacks. The snacks were selected with the families of children with some allergies in mind as the items don't have peanuts or tree nuts.
Another change this year: Some of the eggs will be Eco Eggs, which are plant instead of petroleum-based eggs made in the United States.
They are BPA free, have 100 percent renewable content and can be composted after use. The eggs also are larger than the traditional plastic eggs so they can accommodate some of the larger prizes this year, Kellee Beach with the city's parks department tells me.
I, for one, am thrilled about this change and hope other egg hunts will follow suit. I'm shocked each year how much Valentine's Day and Easter have equaled Halloween in the candy-getting category.
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KIDS WANT CANDY! We don't let our kids have the stuff except for some special occasions---Christmas, Easter, Valentines, etc... They can have "healthy" stuff whenever they want. One Easter egg hunt with healthy stuff and stickers will not prevent even one child from becoming obese----It just prevents enjoyment.
I'm truly sorry if your child can't have peanuts, gluten, sugar, or rest of the list. However, some of you should just create another group and organize your own special egg hunt and leave the rest of us out of it.
"Thank you. Thank you very much."
March 23, 2013 9:58 a.m.
Shame on the previous post for being so lazy. You can celebrate your very own easter egg hunt like I have done for my child in years past.
March 4, 2013 10:14 a.m.
March 2, 2013 8:15 p.m.
March 2, 2013 7:36 p.m.
I bought my traditional Cadbury Creme Egg a month ago and am looking forward to eating it, unless the calorie police arrive and confiscate it beforehand.
Or I can hide it under the floor and tell the calorie police that I'm having tofu.
Does it occur to anybody, especially anybody on the left, that we're actually discussing this? That this is a NEWS story?
March 2, 2013 6:16 p.m.
March 2, 2013 6:09 p.m.
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March 2, 2013 5:19 p.m.