Sand Scorpions host annual egg hunt and poker run

MOSES LAKE — The Sand Scorpions ORV group brought the community out for an afternoon in the Sand Dunes for their annual Easter Egg Hunt and Poker Run on Saturday. Brandon Douglass, the event organizer for the Sand Scorpions, said this year showcased another successful event.

“It went really well,” said Douglass. “Weather was awesome, tons of kids, tons of eggs, lots of fun. I didn’t see a single unhappy face.”

The Easter Egg Hunt kicked off at noon with 34,000 eggs hidden across five acres of the dunes. He said that there were so many eggs that hiding them was no longer an option, and the dunes were spotted with a variety of different colored eggs.

“One of the most common questions is, ‘How do you get all those eggs thrown out?’ and there’s a pretty good video (on our Facebook) of a lady who opens a bag and just starts throwing them out,” said Douglass. “That’s a pretty accurate representation of how we distribute the eggs.”

By the end of the hunt, he said each of the children in attendance went home with a basket full of eggs.

Following the egg hunt, riders geared up for the Poker Run, where the participants paid for their hands and rode off for a game of five-card poker. Douglass said riders tracked their hands on a piece of paper with the whole 52-card deck listed.

Riders drove about 10 to 15 minutes for each checkpoint where they drew a card and marked it on their sheet.

“The best three hands of the five cards they drew throughout the five different stops wins,” said Douglass.

The winner of the $200 top prize was Richard Simpson, who won the game with an ace-high straight.

Douglass said the Sand Scorpions egg hunt has been going on for around 30 years and he remembers in the past it took several weekends in advance of preparation to get the eggs hand-filled. In the past five years, local sponsors and businesses have stepped up and purchased up to 5000 pre-filled eggs each in support of the event.

“That really has allowed our egg hunt to grow in size quickly,” he said.

The Poker Run began in the last eight years and not only operates as one of the first ORV events of the season but has also grown into one of their most popular poker runs, said Douglass.

This event is something that he said is important to the community as it gives children another great opportunity to get out and collect eggs and brings the whole family out into the dunes to participate in outdoor activities.

“It brings a lot of families out to the sand dunes who may not otherwise go out into the sand dunes and see that it’s not just this big scary place,” said Douglass. “It gets kids off of screens, gets them outdoors, gets them playing in the sand and the dirt and fills their bellies full of sugar.”

Douglass expressed thanks to all of the volunteers and sponsors who make this event possible each year and to the families who came out to participate.

    ORVs sit in the sand as their riders make their way to the table to draw cards during the Poker Run.
  

    People from across the community mingle next to their vehicles Saturday afternoon during the Sand Scorpions Easter Egg Hunt and Poker Run.
  

    Families out in the dunes Saturday afternoon get ready to have their children head out and search for eggs during the annual Sand Scorpions event.