By Clyde Noel

Town Crier Correspondent

Four-year-old Megan Feroglia of Los Altos checked the bushes in front of Citibank and, without any competition, selected five colored plastic eggs and placed them in her basket as soon as the police siren blew last Saturday morning.

Toddlers, dressed in rain clothing, kept their eye on the various colored Easter eggs scattered in the Los Altos downtown area, and when they heard the three little blasts on the police siren, they knew where to find their Easter eggs.

The event, sponsored by the Los Altos Village Association (LAVA), attracted 1,000 toddlers and older children, who collected 5,000 eggs on Main and State streets.

Many eggs contained a slip of paper awarding a prize from the merchants who cooperated in the event. All eggs were packed with Easter candy.

“We had a good turnout for a cold day like this, and the kids were able to get a ton of eggs,” said Kathleen Byrne, executive director of LAVA.

“The merchants were very cooperative in support of gifts for the children.”

The Easter Egg Hunt was started by Marion Jackston in the late 1970s, about the same time she promoted the Festival of Lights held every Thanksgiving. Jackston promoted Los Altos businesses by producing events that would bring people to the downtown area.

Children’s entertainment followed the egg hunt. There was a Snapdragon Puppets show, carrot cake tasting, jellybean guessing contest, rabbit ear making, and the Easter bunny in his white fur putting his arm around toddlers so parents could take pictures.

Volunteers from St. Francis and Los Altos High Schools helped organize the holiday event.