Kids scoop up prizes at Brookdale Hearthstone Easter egg hunt
JOEL MARTIN | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 6 months, 1 week AGO
Children comb the grass at Brookdale Hearthstone Saturday for plastic eggs. The hunt lasted about 11 minutes.
COURTESY PHOTO/BROOKDALE HEARTHSTONE
Brookdale Hearthstone residents fill Easter eggs for Saturday’s hunt. With some help from Moses Lake Christian Academy students, the facility’s Helping Hands committee filled 2,000 eggs, Lifestyle Director Imelda Broyles said.
Children of all ages came to the Easter egg hunt at Brookdale Hearthstone Saturday. Next year organizers plan to split the hunt into two parts, to let the littler and special needs children have more chance to find eggs.
Joel Martin has been with the Columbia Basin Herald for more than 25 years in a variety of roles and is the most-tenured employee in the building. Martin is a married father of eight and enjoys spending time with his children and his wife, Christina. He is passionate about the paper’s mission of informing the people of the Columbia Basin because he knows it is important to record the history of the communities the publication serves. | April 9, 2026 3:10 AM
MOSES LAKE — How long does it take for 120 kids to pick up 2,000 plastic eggs?
“Eleven minutes,” said Karisti Cox, Senior Living Sales Specialist for Brookdale Hearthstone. “I looked down at my watch (when) the door opened promptly at one, and when I saw people walking back because the eggs had been found, it was 1:11.”
Brookdale Hearthstone has done Easter egg hunts in the past, Cox said, but only for the residents’ families. This year they put the invitation out on social media and got an enthusiastic response. Exactly how many people came, Cox wasn’t sure, but she did know that there were 100 ice cream treats to give out after the egg hunt, and some families had already left before getting ice cream.
The eggs were prepared by Brookdale Hearthstone’s Helping Hands Committee, a group of residents who volunteer to help out at community events. The committee, with the help of students from Moses Lake Christian Academy, filled the eggs over the course of several days, Lifestyle Director Imelda Broyles said. Two residents planted eggs all over the lawn at Brookdale Hearthstone.
“We are always so thankful for our community volunteers,” Broyles said. “Our Helping Hands Committee truly lives out its name they are always ready to give back and pay it forward, making moments like these possible for our residents and community.”
Besides the candy that was in the eggs, there were four golden eggs that could be redeemed for prizes, Cox said. There were also some sparkly eggs for the parents, and some objects that looked like huge lollipops, but were actually packages of little lollipops.
This being the first year Brookdale Hearthstone has invited the community over for an egg hunt, the organizers learned a few lessons they plan to apply next year, Cox said.
“Next year what we want to do is have a special time frame for special needs (children) and children 4 and younger,” she said. “They didn’t get the opportunity to gather eggs once the big kids were out.”
Brookdale Hearthstone residents fill Easter eggs for Saturday’s hunt. With some help from Moses Lake Christian Academy students, the facility’s Helping Hands committee filled 2,000 eggs, Lifestyle Director Imelda Broyles said.
Children of all ages came to the Easter egg hunt at Brookdale Hearthstone Saturday. Next year organizers plan to split the hunt into two parts, to let the littler and special needs children have more chance to find eggs.ARTICLES BY JOEL MARTIN
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