As 4-year-old Stella Alberta peered out into a field of thousands of Easter surprises Saturday, she fixed her eye on a large pink bunny. Waiting for the start of the annual Powell egg hunt tested her patience, but when the yellow ribbon holding the participants back was dropped she raced toward her goal as fast as her little legs could carry her.

Another girl also had her eye on the bunny and the two were neck and neck before Stella broke into the lead by a few feet. She grabbed the bunny first with a big smile on her face. But this wasn't her first rodeo.

Stella has been attending the annual event since before her first birthday and knew from experience that she would be in the race of her young life. Once she had her prized pink bunny, she turned and started grabbing eggs. It only took about four minutes for over 5,000 prizes of candy and toys to be sucked out of the grass like a giant, giggling and screeching Hoover vacuum cleaner.

Despite the rush of adrenaline and all the smiles from children carrying buckets and grocery bags over-stuffed with prizes, it was a bittersweet day for members of the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks (BPOE), who have been sponsoring the event for decades. The longtime leader of the Easter extravaganza, Gary Sweet, passed away this year. His death was just four months after his beloved wife, Laura.

Laura (Coen) passed away in September at the age of 73 and Gary followed her in January at the age of 76.

"Gary was a guy with a big heart, and this was his event," said Elks Exalted Ruler Jeff Greaham, who, along with his wife Christi, have taken over organizing the popular event.

In his honor, the event name was changed to the Gary Sweet Memorial Easter Egg Hunt. More than 600 post-hunt meals were served in 2024, Greaham said, and it appeared to be a larger crowd this year. More than 40 members spent hours Wednesday loading plastic eggs with goodies and assembling grand prizes for the raffle. Then all of the volunteers arrived at 8:30 a.m. Saturday to "hide" the eggs in the grass at the Park County Fairgrounds and put on their Easter costumes.

Twenty-seven year Elks member Frank Palazzolo's upper lip trembled as he spoke of his good friends, the Sweets.

"It's really hard without them," he said while wearing big blue and white bunny ears over his Elks Club hat.

With the starting bell just minutes away and hundreds of children and their parents at the starting line, there was little time to commiserate.

"This will all be over in four minutes," he said as he policed the starting line.

In previous years children have busted through the caution tape early, resulting in a rush by too many children to stop the sprints. This year not one prize was grabbed prior to the official start and it was the fastest of the children — divided into three age groups — who were able to grab the top prizes in the grass.

But the event didn't end after every last one of the hidden prizes had been grabbed. Hungry children and parents then headed for Heart Mountain Hall, where the Elks had lunch prepared and they raffled off door prizes. The top door prizes were 18 bicycles and plush Easter baskets filled with goodies.

"The Elks Club is the number one charitable organization after the U.S. government," said Christi Greaham. "We do a lot of stuff that people don't know about, like we help feed community members, and we clothe kids that can't afford school clothes. And we feed the elderly, we do a lot of veterans' programs and have lots of scholarships for seniors [in high school]."

The BPOE, is a fraternal organization and charitable foundation with a long history of community involvement since 1868. In Powell, the local Elks Lodge #2303 is located at 581 N. Clark St.  and meets the second and fourth Tuesdays of each month, except in July (second Tuesday) and August (fourth Tuesday).