Northwood News ♦ June 2011

Annual Easter Egg Hunt Rolls into Northwood Park

By Kristen Mastroianni and Chi Nguyen

What began as a discussion among parents in Spring 2008 — while watching their children play in Northwood Park — on how to win tickets to the White House Easter Egg Roll led to an annual Easter Egg Hunt right here in Northwood Park.

Tom Schoenberg read stories while families snacked.

On a sunny Sunday afternoon on 17 April, over 30 children and their families gathered in Northwood Park for the annual Easter Egg Hunt organized by Kristen Mastroianni and Chi Nguyen. Participating families and friends brought nut-free treats in eggs to hide in the playground for their children to find, along with snacks and sweets to share with all during storytime performed this year by Tom Schoenberg, who is married to Mastroianni. This year’s event also featured an Easter egg roll and bunny sack jump lead by Rachel and Ramil Palmaira.

Mastroianni, a mother of active five-year old twin boys and a two-year old girl, maintains a neighborhood contact list of families with young children (the “baby network”).

Neighbors Luke Schoenberg [son of Kristen Mastroianni], left, and Alex Hickman race each other to see who can roll his egg to the finish line first.

“Having twins and being a new stay at home mom, the ‘baby network’ was a great resource for me, and we still occassionally get together with a few children who we met and who will be going to Forest Knolls with the boys in the fall,” noted Mastroianni. For those who are interested in the “baby network,” forward your contact info and age of child to [contact details redacted].

No Easter celebration is complete without a hunt for Easter eggs (Easter hats and bunny ears optional)!

If you cannot wait for next year’s Easter Egg Hunt, there is the Halloween Parade and Trick-or-Treat in Northwood Park in October. This is another annual event organized by both Mastroianni and Nguyen that provides parents and their children with a wonderful opportunity to get together in Northwood Park and to meet others in the community.

Of course, the Spring and Summer provide great weather for other events in Northwood Park. Mastroianni and Nguyen would like to encourage neighborhood parents to organize other activities in Northwood Park, such as monthly playdates.

[Note that this group is separate from the Northwood Parents list serve.] ■