Cold eggs
Despite the wind chill, the hunters were in good form
-Messenger photo by Hans Madsen Sydney Dubore, 11, center, leads the pack Saturday as the horn blows to start the annual Fort Dodge Moose Lodge Easter Egg Hunt in Dodger Stadium.
-Messenger photo by Hans Madsen Gavin Sankey, 7, at left, and his brother Mason Sankey, 9, keep warm in their improvised hurdle/blanket shelter Saturday during the Fort Dodge Moose Lodge Easter Egg Hunt in Dodger Stadium. The pair had already collected their candy and were waiting for the prize drawing.
-Messenger photo by Hans Madsen Seth Dolan, of Fort Dodge, demonstrates one method of distributing Easter candy on the field at Dodge Stadium Saturday - by tossing the entire box into the air - during the annual Fort Dodge Moose Lodge Easter Egg Hunt in Dodger Stadium. His method worked quite well.
-Messenger photo by Hans Madsen Addi Lind, 3, of Fort Dodge, has the weather taken care of with her pink hat and warm blanket Saturday at the annual Fort Dodge Moose Lodge Easter Egg Hunt in Dodger Stadium.
-Messenger photo by Hans Madsen Nicole Hager, of Fort Dodge, works on warming her son Huxley Hager, 4, back up after her collected a bag full of candy Saturday at the annual Fort Dodge Moose Lodge Easter Egg Hunt in Dodger Stadium.
-Messenger photo by Hans Madsen Sydney Dubore, 11, center, leads the pack Saturday as the horn blows to start the annual Fort Dodge Moose Lodge Easter Egg Hunt in Dodger Stadium.
-Messenger photo by Hans Madsen Gavin Sankey, 7, at left, and his brother Mason Sankey, 9, keep warm in their improvised hurdle/blanket shelter Saturday during the Fort Dodge Moose Lodge Easter Egg Hunt in Dodger Stadium. The pair had already collected their candy and were waiting for the prize drawing.
-Messenger photo by Hans Madsen Seth Dolan, of Fort Dodge, demonstrates one method of distributing Easter candy on the field at Dodge Stadium Saturday - by tossing the entire box into the air - during the annual Fort Dodge Moose Lodge Easter Egg Hunt in Dodger Stadium. His method worked quite well.
-Messenger photo by Hans Madsen Addi Lind, 3, of Fort Dodge, has the weather taken care of with her pink hat and warm blanket Saturday at the annual Fort Dodge Moose Lodge Easter Egg Hunt in Dodger Stadium.
-Messenger photo by Hans Madsen Nicole Hager, of Fort Dodge, works on warming her son Huxley Hager, 4, back up after her collected a bag full of candy Saturday at the annual Fort Dodge Moose Lodge Easter Egg Hunt in Dodger Stadium.
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There's a reason why the volunteers who put on the annual Fort Dodge Moose Lodge Easter Egg hunt in Dodger Stadium wait until the very last minute to distribute the candy on the field.
The chocolate can get soft, or even turn into a liquid, in the sun.
However, that was not a problem Saturday as temperatures hovered around the 40-degree mark and a chill wind blew across the gridiron.
The chill, however, did nothing to dampen the enthusiasm of those who came out to hunt candy.
Mason Sankey, 9, and his brother, Gavin Sankey, 7, came prepared. They created an improvised shelter from two blankets and a pair of track hurdles.
Both are three-year veterans of the event and they each had their candy-gathering tactics planned.
"I'm running out fast," Mason Sankey said. "I'm just going to go out there."
His brother likened it to another game.
"I'm pretending it's basketball," Gavin Sankey said.
They both knew what would not work.
"The thing that doesn't work is getting slower," Mason Sankey said.
Sydney Dubore, 11, of Fort Dodge, made a fine haul.
"Seven pounds," she estimated when she was finished.
Her tactic was simple: run out as far and as fast as she could, then work her way back toward the starting line.
She planned on being generous with her multiple-pound haul.
She was going to share.
"With my neighbors," she said.
Huxley Hagar, 4, went to the Easter Egg Hunt with his mom, Nicole Hagar.
After the on-field excitement, she spent some time warming him back up inside her own coat.
"It was cold," she said.
She was proud of his efforts, "But you still got a bag full of candy," she told him.
Of course, eating the collected candy is something that most parents insist be paced out and done after meals as a treat.
For the Sankey brothers, that was the case.
"After lunch," Mason Sankey said. "Then after supper."
Someone also has to make sure the candy gets onto the field.
Seth Dolan, of Fort Dodge, was among the lodge members helping out. He was new to distribution job, but made quick work of it -- by tossing the entire box into the air.
It worked though, quite well.
He also wore a pair of fuzzy rabbit ears, not for warmth though; he had a doughnut and a cup of cocoa for that.
"The ears are to keep the spirit," he said.