Management wrote that the event was meant to allow 1- and 2-year-olds to hunt for eggs in a designated area, followed by 3- and 4-year-olds to begin hunting elsewhere with their parents for a 60-second head start, and then finally everyone else would begin the hunt. Only children were supposed to pick up eggs, the post said.
Problems with crowd control began immediately, the post said, with many people not listening to requests to move to one area to listen to instructions.
Then, when the 1- and 2-year-olds were allowed to go hunt their eggs, some parents ran to the grassy area to start hunting, followed by all other participants rushing out, according to The Greene. The post added that many adults were seen picking up eggs, and some adults even pushed children out of the way or knocked people over, leaving several children empty-handed.
“This is absolutely unacceptable behavior, and we apologize to anyone that was affected by these actions,” The Greene said.
The Greene’s management ended the post by thanking those who donated prizes or their time to help with the event, and apologizing “for the way the community has spoken to them.”
When asked for comment, the Greene Assistant Manager Jessica Baer said that the center doesn’t plan to hold another Easter egg hunt.
“Unfortunately, we had plenty of staff and the parents still didn’t follow our instruction,” she said. “We spent over an hour announcing 1 and 2 year olds would go first in only the fountain area. There will be no plans to hunt eggs again.”
She said that next year the Greene plans to hold a prize raffle with one ticket per child.
“We feel the community will be better without the hunt,” she said.
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