Mount Prospect Lions Club to Host Easter Egg Hunt for Visually Impaired Children

The Easter Bunny likely will be wearing a yellow Mount Prospect Lions Club service vest once again on Sunday, April 12 when visually impaired children from the area eagerly set out in search of specially designed Easter eggs that beep and talk at them. The local service club is organizing this Easter Egg Hunt for the Visually Impaired, which will run from 1:00-3:00 p.m. that day at the Westbrook School at Gillet Center, 201 S. Evanston Avenue in Arlington Heights. The event is scheduled for after Easter this year because of Spring Break schedules and family vacations. Children will exchange the beeping/talking eggs for candy and prizes. An ice-cream social will follow inside the school. Children with normal vision also will be able to participate in the egg hunt by wearing a blindfold to experience what it means to lose the use of their eyes. By planning this event, the Mount Prospect Lions Club will be continuing an annual tradition begun by the Telephone Pioneers of America in the late 1960s. Lions club member Tony Baumstark, a past president of the Telephone Pioneers, was instrumental in having the Mount Prospect Lions Club help out with the egg hunt starting in 2001. With his experience in both volunteer service organizations, it was Baumstark who suggested that the Lions club run the event if the Pioneers supplied the special beeping eggs. The original beeping eggs will again be complemented by the newer “Hide ‘Em & Find ‘Em Eggs” donated to the club in 2009 by Techno Source, a privately-held, Hong Kong-based toy company with offices in New York. Once their “On-button” is pressed, the“Hide ‘Em & Find ‘Em Eggs” call out five different speech lines and emit three different sounds, including “I’m hiding,” “You found me!” and “I’m over here!” The eggs come in six collectable colors: purple, pink, green, yellow, orange and blue; each with a bunny or baby chick character inside. They automatically shut off after 30 minutes and are large enough to store candy. “Some Lions members get tears in their eyes while they help these children,” said Baumstark. “I think that our club members truly become Lions when they serve at an event like this one. How can you not have your heart be touched by these children who laugh, smile, and simply enjoy themselves?”