THE EASTER EGG RACE IS ON!

Conrad Dean had a basket full of eggs.

The 3-year-old handed his basket to his father and headed toward a nearby youngster who was still searching for Easter eggs.

"That's his brother, Jules," said John Dean.

The brothers were in different groups for the Cape Girardeau Parks and Recreation Department's 10th annual Easter egg hunt Saturday at Capaha Park.

The event featured three different hunts.

Conrad's turn came in the 3- and 4-year-old bracket at 10 a.m. Jules was in the 5- to 10-year-old age group an hour later. A third age group was the 1- and 2-year-old group, which searched for eggs earlier in the day.

More than 500 youngsters participated in the event.

"The count was down some from last year, probably due to the weather," said Chris Eastridge, recreation programmer. Overcast skies and temperatures in the 40s greeted the youngsters.

Last year's group of more than 600 was a record.

This year's event still attracted a good crowd.

"We probably had more than 300 youngsters in the young groups -- 1 to 4," said Eastridge. "

Another 200-plus showed up for the 11:15 a.m. hunt.

The youngsters were waiting and ready when the bunny rabbit -- Angie Fehr -- blew the starting whistle, sending them to hunt for 2,500 eggs.

One of the participants in the oldest age group was off to a slow start. Alexys Long's basket was still empty after a couple of minutes, when she spied a pink egg a few steps away.

Over the next couple of minutes, the 5-year-old's basket contained a dozen different colored eggs. Then, came the real fun, when Alexys and her mother, Tammy Long, kneeled down to see what goodies the eggs contained.

"We had a grand total of more than 7,500 plastic eggs," said Eastridge. "We put out about 2,500 for each of the three divisions."

The eggs were hidden all over the park from the lagoon to the baseball field and by the basketball court.

Each plastic egg held a special prize inside, including five "special" prizes in each group, good for bats, balls, puzzles and other special prizes.

Children had to provide their own baskets, and parents escorted the smaller children.

The event was co-sponsored by Burger King, Taco John's, Hollywood Video, K103, Mr. Bulky's and Chuck E Cheese's.

Eight parks and recreation employees helped conduct the hunt.

"It took us more than six hours to prepare the eggs for the event," said Eastridge.

In each age bracket, the youngsters scooped up their prizes in five to 10 minutes.

Other community Easter egg hunts were conducted Saturday at Jackson and Scott City. The Jackson hunt, for children under 10, was co-sponsored by the Jackson Jaycees, Schaper's IGA, Country Mart and Drury Restaurants.

The Scott City Parks and Recreation Department sponsored the Scott City event at the community park for children under 8.