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By Michelle Taylor

Pastor Ken Barner of Crossroads Ministries has hosted over 12 years of Easter egg hunts for the Finleyville community, but this year was the first that involved a helicopter!

The helicopter drops 10,000 eggs onto the field for the kids to scoop up.

While over 10,000 eggs lay on the adjacent field to the church, Stellar Copters flew a helicopter out of the Allegheny County Airport on Saturday, April 8 to hover over the field at 3 p.m. to drop over 10,000 filled plastic Easter eggs.

Although the hunt didn't begin until 3 p.m., people began arriving at 1:30 to get a spot at the head of the line for their age group. The groups were broken down into toddler, pre-K, grades K-2, and grades 3-5 with each group having their own entrance onto the field. Inside the eggs were candy and in each group, 12 golden tickets were hidden in eggs that the winner could cash in for a prize inside the church.

This free event was booked to capacity with just over 750 kids registered; tickets were to be shown at the front of the parking lot for admission.

Once the parking lot to the church was full, people began to park at Mineral Beach and shuttle buses were provided. Once the time grew closer, over 1,500 people stood on the perimeter of the field waiting in anticipation for the sight of the helicopter. Once in view, the crowd cheered and waved in excitement. The helicopter flew around the field and did a few maneuvers, and the Easter bunny sat shotgun waving back to the crowd.

After a few minutes, the helicopter hovered about 15 feet above the field and released the eggs onto the field into each of the age group sections. When all the eggs had been successfully released, the helicopter landed at the far edge of the field where kids could look, touch, get a picture with, and sit inside the helicopter.

Pastor Ken says he hopes to continue the helicopter drop in future years.

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