On the afternoon of Sunday, April 2, a chaotic frenzy shattered the peace in Hammond Park in Onset.

An army of screaming kids stormed the park in a ravenous search for 4,500 Easter eggs, in hopes of seizing the candy, toys and other goodies that were inside. 

After a few minutes of tearing through the grass in a scorched-earth campaign, and valiantly stretching to reach eggs stashed in tall trees, the scramble for eggs was over as soon as it began. The children left nothing but crushed plastic eggs in their wake, a reminder of the chocolate-coated carnage that had descended upon Hammond Park. 

For the rest of the day, the kids got to enjoy face painting, games, a visit from the Easter Bunny and, of course, all the candy they collected. 

As she looked over her pastel-colored treasures, 6-year-old Kelsey Gropman said that her favorite part of the hunt was the candy. 

When asked what his favorite part was, 4-year-old Axel Gropman cried “The same thing!”, his mouth full of chocolate. 

The egg hunt was sponsored by Faded Image Barbershop, the Wareham Tigers youth football team, Village Hoops and Community Youth Empowerment Wareham. Over the course of two weeks, Faded Image owner Tom Silvia single-handedly filled the thousands of eggs with candy and toys.

“I can’t believe that 4,500 eggs went that fast!” He said. “Next year I’ll do more. Maybe I’ll do 8,000.” 

Plenty of real eggs got smashed in games like the egg and spoon race and the egg toss. 9-year-old Brody Cannon and 10-year-old Davion Woodley tossed the egg back and forth like pros, astonishing their friends with their impressive catches even as things around them devolved into a messy egg fight, 

“It felt good,” Davion said. “We were the only ones [not to break the egg], everybody was hyped.” 

Davion’s friend Amari Pires, 7, was among those who challenged the Easter Bunny, 341, to a basketball game. The games did not end well for the legendary egg-bringer. 

“Those kids are good,” he said. 

Despite getting repeatedly dunked on, the Easter Bunny told Wareham Week that Onset is “a very nice place.”

“I love seeing the kids,” he said. “All of the kids were very nice to me, except for the ones that were scared of me.” 

Between now and next Easter, he plans to work on his basketball skills.