4-6-2007

Hunting for Easter Eggs is a major tradition for many families ... but what if someone in your family is visually impaired and struggles to see the pastel prizes?

Qwest and Bell System have the solution. In what may be one of the coolest ideas this reporter has seen in a LONG time, volunteers from the two companies are holding an Easter Egg Hunt for the visually impaired featuring ... BEEPING eggs.

The plastic eggs act just like a pager ... bright blue or bright pink eggs (about the size of a softball) that BEEP loudly. They're even as FRAGILE as real eggs (6 of the 50 eggs were damaged in shipping).

Volunteers place the eggs in a field surrounded by toys, candy and stuffed animals (the goodies make up the nest and the egg is in the center of said nest). Kids are divided up by age and partnered with one of their brothers or sisters or friends. The beepers are turned on and each kid gets to seek out his or her pile of treats.

I had the pleasure of speaking with Rita Dagget who helped organize the whole thing. She's spent DAYS shopping for mountains of prizes and stuffing smaller plastic eggs with goodies (she's also been dying HUNDREDS of real eggs . . . the event includes a hunt for all the brothers and sisters there to help out). Her garage is literally overflowing with Eastery stuff.

For her, all the work is worth it in order to make sure these kids, who face special obstacles everyday, get to have the same holiday joys as everyone else.

This year's hunt is at the Da Vinci Art school on North East Everett.