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PITTSTON — On Palm Sunday, there were lots of colored eggs on the lawn under the bright blue domed steeples of the St. Michael’s Byzantine Church in Pittston. The steeples looked like Easter eggs themselves.
There were also lots of little kids picking up those eggs.
And inside the church basement, there was One…. Big…. Bunny.
It was one of many Easter egg hunts being held in the area before the holiday. This one was also a benefit for Tracy’s Hope, the Duryea-based animal rescue organization.
Outside on the lawn, youngsters scrambled to find the “hidden” eggs that dotted grass that still bears its winter brown. Some of the eggs, though, did land in odd places, thanks to Tracy’s Hope volunteers Nina Capitano, of Hughestown, and David Mancini, of Pittston. The young people tucked some of the eggs under bushes, on top of monuments or windowsills, even on one of the vent pipes on the church.
Despite their efforts, though, those sharp-eyed little ones found and gathered about 10 eggs each. And then those same kids –with the help of parents, grandparents and aunts and uncles – made their way around to the back of the church. Once inside the door to the church basement, the followed the bunny footprints into the big community room, where they could trade in some of those eggs for prizes.
“Last year I got jelly beans,” said five-year-old Lola O’Neill, whose dad brought her from their Scranton home. “But this year, I hope I can find chocolate.”
Five-year-old Skylar Major, from West Pittston, helped her little brother, Sebastian find some eggs, but only after she managed to fill her own basket. Inside the church, Skylar netted a Veggie-Tales video and some candy. She was happy to tell anyone and everyone that she “really likes the chocolate best.”
Sebastian, like any good three-year-old boy, was delighted to get a big yellow plastic shovel that he said he planned to use to “dig up the dirt and find worms.”
Then they joined the other kids to snack on hot dogs, chips, cookies and juice, being served up by Tracy’s Hope volunteers. The adults could indulge in a bit of chance-taking by dropping tickets they bought into buckets in the hope of winning prize baskets.
“It’s all going to a good cause,” said Tracy’s Hope founder Denise Kumor. “For one thing, we have a lot of veterinarian bills involved with our rescue and hospice care.”
And visitors had a chance to learn about the organization they were supporting as well as opportunities to become volunteers – or at least get on the mailing list.
Tracy’s Hope’s 47 volunteers and animal activists rescue hundreds of dogs and cats each year and shelter them until they can find permanent homes for the animals. In that process, they ensure that all of the animals have proper immunizations and are healthy and that takes dollars. Some of the cost is borne by volunteers who take the animals in as “foster kids” until they can find forever homes. They also fight for humane treatment of animals throughout the area.
In addition, the organization provides a hospice for elderly and sick animals, offering humane care at the end of the animals’ lives rather than euthanizing them.
They hold several fundraisers throughout the year to help with the cost of food, shelter, supplies and medical care. They count on donations that make up the prize baskets as well as the kids’ prizes for the Easter Egg hunt and other fundraisers like the walk for the animals in the fall.
There were also families around who passed on the egg hunt, but to take advantage of another part of the fundraiser, getting photos with that big white bunny for their albums.
One of the first in line was four-year-old Mia Adelstein in her flowered pinafore, tights with stripes of Easter egg colors and those glittery sneakers that also lit up. Proud grandparents Marion and Jack Tetlack had brought her from Dupont and beamed when their red-headed granddaughter held a serious conversation with the bunny during her photo shoot.
Mia said she likes to go to things that “help animals” because she likes animals. But she can’t have a puppy until she is seven and “can help take care of it.”
One-year-old Greg Chaban, from Kingston, didn’t talk at all, but he let his mom and dad know he wasn’t exactly pleased to be sitting on the lap of a large rabbit for a photo. He resisted efforts to get him to smile but stared at them with a scowl on his face. In fact, he was more interested in the big stuffed giraffe that sat off to the side and wouldn’t cooperate with his parents efforts to get him to look at the camera.
By the way, his photo was charming, something his folks will be able to drag out to show his girlfriend in about 19 years.
One by one, kids climbed onto the bunny’s lap for their close-ups. Some were family groups with the rabbit holding the baby and brothers and sisters standing alongside. Some were individual shots. And the photography crew kept the smiles coming.
The bunny said he enjoyed the whole process.
And, if the rabbit thought the kids were wiggly, he learned they were just the warm-up for the second part of the afternoon’s fun. Later, people could bring their animals for photos with the Easter Bunny as well. Dogs large and small came down the steps and got their chance to smile for the camera.
Even the church’s pastor, Fr. Gary Mensinger brought his rescue dog Rosie for her photo. Like any good model, she tucked herself onto the bunny’s lap and turned to the camera.
Mensinger said he had rescued the beagle-coon hound mix two years ago and, after a rocky start with her – including chasing her for two hours in a snowstorm when she, at first, didn’t understand her “forever home” – couldn’t imagine not having her around.
“She’s a joy, and she keeps me on my toes,” he said. “She’s a big part of the reason I welcome Tracy’s Hope here to hold the benefit.”