1,000 People. 30,000 Eggs.

“HALO! HALO!” shouted 8‑year-old Leanna Saxon, cheering as her 6‑year-old niece sprinted from egg to egg.

She was one of about 1,000 people filling the field behind John C. Daniels School on Sunday afternoon for an Easter egg hunt and festival.

The event, hosted by Hill Alder Angel Hubbard and sponsored by over 20 motorcycle and auto clubs, drew families from the Hill, New Haven, and beyond. 

Kids raced to gather over 30,000 eggs over the course of multiple rounds divided by age cohort. The coveted golden eggs could win them a host of prizes including bikes, scooters, prize money, gift cards, and tickets. While waiting, they could jump inside two bounce castles or munch on free pizza and hot dogs.

Leanna and her mom Tamika shouted encouragement to 6‑year-old Halo from the sidelines as a blur of kindergartners dashed around the field, gathering plastic eggs in their buckets and bags.

After a few minutes, when all the eggs were gone, Halo skipped back to her family.

Tamika Saxon had heard about the egg hunt from social media, and she decided to keep it a surprise until the kids arrived. They arrived behind John C. Daniels as hundreds of people from across the city awaited with buckets and bags in tow.

Both Halo and Leanna said they were feeling a bit shy amid such a big crowd. 

“I felt a liiiiiittle embarrassed” running around in front of everyone, admitted Halo. But she was satisfied with her haul: numerous pastel eggs filled with candy, plus a mysterious yet coveted ​“golden egg” that would soon win her a prize, and a jumbo transparent egg.

“It felt impossible,” said Leanna, describing how it felt to see her younger niece search for eggs with all the other kids. 

Halo put her hands on her hips as if to say, Of course I could do it! But she couldn’t hide her smile as Leanna added, ​“I’m proud of her.”

Soon, it would be Leanna’s turn to search for eggs as part of a slightly older age group. 

The team of adults helping to run the event, including many motorcycle club members, were already scattering the next round of eggs across the field.

Leanna was feeling a bit nervous, but she was ready to challenge herself. ​“After her, I would like to do my fear,” she said.

Halo offered some advice: ​“I want her to get all the big eggs, then the golden eggs, then the little eggs.” 

“Don’t worry,” she said, turning to Leanna. ​“You’ll see so many big kids and you can make new friends.”

On the other side of the field, 10-year-old Kennedy Cordoba was thinking the same thing.

“I’m here to play with other people, meet new people, make new friends,” she said. 

“Sometimes I’m kind of shy,” said Kennedy’s nephew, 9‑year-old David Newsome. 

“Me too,” said Kennedy. ​“But I’m getting more comfortable because there’s things to play.”

Both the Cordobas and the Saxons usually do Easter egg hunts within the confines of their homes or backyards. The big field of people from all over the city was a new experience for both families. 

Kennedy’s mom, Talia Cordoba, said she was glad to bring her family to such a massive gathering.

“They’re young, but they see the news,” she said, adding that she hoped the event will ​“help them see that we can all get along.”

“We’ve been seeing and hearing so many bad reports and bad news,” echoed Hill neighbor Sean Hardy. ​“It’s been a long time since I’ve seen something like this in the neighborhood… This is awesomesauce right here.”

Maxine Harris, who came with 15 kids from the Read Out Loud enrichment program she runs on Saturdays, said she thought the egg hunt and other events like it could serve as a first step toward encouraging more neighborhood residents to be active in community life. Harris is a longtime advocate on the Hill North management team, and noted that the event could be an opportunity to recruit more members. 

“I got people from all over the community,” Alder Hubbard said, beaming. ​“Look how everybody came together — neighbors getting to know each other.”

Families had come not only from the Hill, but from all over the city and even from neighboring towns. The sounds of several different languages could be heard throughout the afternoon. While the event was inspired by Easter, and many Christian families came, numerous kids from the Hill’s growing Muslim community attended as well. 

Hubbard took a moment in the middle of the event to honor two neighborhood kids who died far too young in recent weeks: 8‑year-old Stacey Zane Glasgow and 15-year-old Aaron Robinson. She called for a moment of silence, an aldermanic memorial citation, and the release of three balloons.

Silent A Knight, the president of the motorcycle club M‑Pire, said his club decided to sponsor the event because ​“it’s for the kids.”

Having grown up in the Hill neighborhood, he recalled, ​“we didn’t do things like this,” at least as far as he can remember. He said he’d like to help make the Easter egg event happen annually.

The large turnout was a happy surprise for Hubbard and many of the event’s other organizers.

It also reaffirmed a sense of school pride for Rana Hemat, a fifth-grader at John C. Daniels.

Hemat observed that ​“usually, there’s a lot of fun things over here” at her school. 

“I’m just really happy there’s people over here,” she said. ​“I’m really grateful they came here.”