MARYSVILLE —  More than 2,500 people crowded Jennings Park on Saturday, March 30, for the Marysville Easter Egg Hunt, collecting 11,000 candy-filled eggs in the warm spring weather.

“It went really well. It was a beautiful day and we had a great turnout,” said Andrea Kingsford, Marysville recreation coordinator. “We had wonderful support through our sponsors and volunteers.”

Kingsford thanked the sponsors of the event, including the Marysville Noon Rotary, Steve Fulton State Farm Insurance, Grandview Village, United Way, Hillside Church, Ivar’s, Kiwanis Club, Piink Ink Face Painting and Marysville Getchell High School students.

“We had so many volunteers from Marysville Getchell and community members who helped put on the event,” said Kingsford. “Everybody was so pleasant and it was just such a wonderful day.”

The city prepared 12,000 plastic eggs, and although 10,000 were pre-filled, the additional 2,000 were filled by student volunteers from Marysville Getchell High School.

Donations to the Marysville Community Food Bank were collected, although the totals were not tallied as of press time. In 2012, the event drew more than 900 pounds of food donations and almost $100 in cash.

Noah Bigbey, a 14-month-old Marysville resident, celebrated his first Easter egg hunt by happily playing with the eggs that he found in the grass.

“This is our first time here,” said his mother, Susan Bigbey. “We live right next to the park and our neighbor told us about it. I think we’ll probably make this a yearly thing.”

Summer McBride, 5, searched through the western part of the park for her eggs, while her mother, Hannah McBride, looked on.

“I think this is our third year here,” she said. “I like that they have the egg limit and it’s not a free-for-all.”

The hunt was divided into sections by age groups and the kids were given an eight-egg limit. Once the sections had been emptied, organizers placed more eggs on the grass.

“It was an almost perfect day,” said Jim Ballew, Parks and Recreation director. “I think it’s really impressive that we can put on a free event for the community and visitors, and those community members bring canned food with them for the Food Bank. We have a huge truck full of food ready to be dropped off. It’s a tight-knit community and everybody is looking out for each other.”

The egg hunt has been a part of Marysville Easter celebrations since 1991, and the city plans to bring it back again for another year in 2014.