“I love this weather!” booms out across the pale sky via loudspeaker on this drizzly Saturday before Easter. “It’s perfect for an Easter egg hunt!” And apparently many agree with the sentiment as both parking lots at Woodward Middle School were nearly full for the Second Annual Egg Dash.

Bundled toddlers, dogs and endless baby strollers pushed by parents hurry toward the voice on the loudspeaker: Dave O’Connell, as it turns out, one of the two Egg Dash founders. He and its other founder, Josh Crandall, are also pastors on BI.

O’Connell was stationed by the giant bouncy house near the event entrance. Mic in hand, he’s the voice keeping the crowd entertained and on track.

“The first run will begin shortly!” O’Connell instructs the attendees, as parents herd their “0-3s” to orange taped plots—they’ll be the first group to “dash” at the 16,000 colorful treat-filled eggs scattered on the ground as far as the eye can see.

Crandall and a giant white bunny move through the crowd. The bunny gently teases some of the kids and parents and bops in time to the music.

O’Connell shouts into the mic “2!”

The littles look at their parents for instruction. Moms and dads point and bend down to help in preparation for the final number.

“1!”

The 0-3s take off and head to the eggs, many with parental assistance. Parents laugh and try to take cell phone pictures between egg grabs. “It’s so fun to see the kids and how excited they are,” Crandall said. “It’s magical. A great Easter event. A real memory maker.”

Standing alongside the tents set up for face painting, crafts and balloon animals, Crandall looks out at the crowd. “Even though we’re pastors, this event is non-religious,” he said. “They’re just good family and community events. We saw there was a hole here for such an event, and we just tried to fill it, no strings attached.”

He glances over at the face painting booth where a little girl of about 3 is being transformed into a cat. The second batch of kids, pre-K to 2nds, begins assembling for their hunt. “Everyone’s so happy to be here,” Crandall said. “The families did all the fundraising, promotions and marketing for this event. It was basically word of mouth, as we had some issues keeping the posters we’d put up in place.”

The Easter Bunny awaits the mad rush of children as they get set to take off for the egg hunt at Woodward Middle School.