SHERRILL —  Hop the Bunny was a popular guest Saturday as the Silver City's annual Easter Egg Hunt returned to Reilly-Mumford Memorial Park.

"Hop is everybody's best friend today," said Easter Egg Hunt helper Gianna Ferrucci.

Whether walking though the crowd or sitting in the gazebo for photos, Hop always had the children gathered by her side. Most were enthusiastic to see the flop-eared holiday rabbit, while just a few were a bit more cautious.

Seeing the kids' reaction was what makes the event so special, Ferrucci explained.

"I love seeing all of the smiles on the kids' faces," she said.

(See the action in this video.)

Preparations for the Easter Egg Hunt took about a month, noted Ferrucci, who works at the city's Community Activity Center. They took their time filling each of the hundreds of colorful plastic eggs with bite-sized candy bars and other treats.

A prize gem was also included in select eggs, one of which was mixed in with all the others during each of the five hunts. Groups included pre-kindergarten; kindergarten; first and second grades; third and fourth grades; and fifth and sixth grades.

There was also face painting by Shay Putman.

Arianna Naegele sat on the grass and opened her plastic eggs to inspect the candy inside after her age group had their hunt. She said she had fun because all of her friends were out for the Easter Egg Hunt that morning, plus she got some of her favorite candies in those eggs.

Dylan Burke was one of the lucky children to find one of the gem treasures inside an egg. He took home a free Snack Mountain Care Package and got a winner's photo with Hop as his prize.

His favorite part of the event was meeting Hop, he said. His mom Stephanie Burke said she appreciated the city's fun outreach to the families.

"This is just fantastic," his mom said. "It's so great that the city does this for the kids."

Jessica Yoxall took some keepsake pictures of daughters Lauren and Payton as they stood next to Hop in the gazebo.

"We love the City of Sherrill," she said. "That's why we moved here - for all the city does for us."