Gaston Rural Fire District

Dozens of families from throughout the area converged on Brown Park for Gaston Fire's annual Easter Egg Hunt.

Anticipation grew as eager children lined the fences around the ballpark on a nice Saturday morning.

"On your mark," said Firefighter Randy Hoodenpyl. The kids assumed their best Olympic-sprinter poses ...

"Get set," Randy continued. Eyes widened as maybe a child or two started a fraction of a second too early ...

"GO!"

And then in a few frenzied minutes, the baseball fields were picked clean of the plastic eggs.

All that was left from hours of work on the part of the volunteers was a park full of laughing children and smiling parents busily snapping pictures.

It was a very good day to be a Gaston Fire volunteer.