Thousands race for eggs at McDowell Fields
Two girls make their way across the field with eyes on which Easter eggs they’ll pick up at the egg hunt event Saturday. The event was sponsored by Champion Christian Center and was held at McDowell Fields in North Strabane Township.
From left, Caleb Glendenning, 11, of Washington, Kelly Donman, 10, of Washington, Lundyn Seay, 7, of Munhall, and Callipe Abate, 10, of Pittsburgh, compete Saturday in a dance-off to try to win an iPad mini. Champion Christian Center sponsored the event and distributed gifts and prizes before the start of the Easter egg dash.
Children scour the field for candy and Easter eggs at a Easter egg hunt Saturday. The snow canceled the planned helicopter egg drop but there were extra eggs and candy on the field for egg hunters to find and fill up their bags and baskets.
Before the Easter egg hunt, kids and parents crowded around DJ Robbie Lopez for candy, prizes and games Saturday at McDowell Fields. In addition to the candy-filled Easter eggs, children could play in a bounce house, get their faces painted and receive balloon animals.
CANONSBURG – Snow grounded a helicopter but not the spirits of hundreds of children and volunteers who came out Saturday for Champion Christian Center’s third biennial Easter egg hunt at McDowell baseball fields.
The helicopter from Skyward Aviation was scheduled to drop 8,000 candy-filled eggs upon the roughly 3,500 kids and parents, but the crowd made do the old-fashioned way and scoured the open fields in North Strabane Township for the easy-to-spot plastic shells.
“This is definitely the biggest year we’ve had, with 3,000 pre-registered kids alone, then we expect up to another thousand coming out,” said pastor Nathan Miller, explaining the egg hunt is held every other year to improve its quality and scope.
If kids got bored with bounce houses, face painting and free food, DJ Robbie Lopez, a Tampa, Fla., native, was there to engage the crowd with dance music and prizes, which he awarded after crowning winners in dance-offs and musical chairs. Notable prizes included iPads, headphones and bikes, but the crowd of kids cheered loudest for footballs and basketballs.
Lopez handed the microphone to Miller before the dual-field egg dash so he and his co-pastor and wife, Joie, could let kids and their parents know why they’re really out in the cold.
“We know we’re blessed to be a blessing (to the community). And so our heart is beyond the candy and the eggs and we hope that people and kids know the love of God and know the greatest story ever told, the story of Jesus Christ,” Miller said.
Miller said Champion Christian Center just made a name change from New Life Church last month for those who didn’t recognize it as the event’s usual host.
“We always loved the name New Life, but looking at the vision of what Jesus did for us on the cross – he’s the ultimate champion – and now because of him, we are more than conquerors; we’re meant to win in life, but we can only do that through a relationship with Christ,” Miller said.
The Champion Christian Center is located at 110 Belmont Ave., Canonsburg.