Kings Lions sponsor first ever 'Beeping Easter Egg Hunt' for Shelly Baird School

By Ed Martin, Editor
A local youth has fun with the Easter Bunny.
A local youth has fun with the Easter Bunny.

Easter came a couple of weeks early for a bunch of kids from the Hanford’s Shelly Baird School, an educational institution operated by the Kings County Office of Education that provides educational services and support for students from 3-22 years old with complex and intensive educational needs.

The Lemoore Volunteer Fire Department gave free rides Saturday at the first annual 'Beeping Easter Egg Hunt'
The Lemoore Volunteer Fire Department gave free rides Saturday at the first annual 'Beeping Easter Egg Hunt'

The Kings Lions Club sponsored its first annual “Beeping Easter Egg Hunt” at the Kings Lions Park Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. devoted specifically for the visually impaired and Special Needs students of Shelly Baird.

Kings Lions Club Facebook Page

The Kings Lions will also be in Stratford next Saturday (April 8) at 10 a.m. for its annual Easter Egg Hunt at Stratford Elementary School.

Shelly Baird’s main campus operates two preschool classrooms and 10 special-day classrooms along with an independent living adult class. They also offer 16 satellite classrooms integrated at general education campus in Kings County.

“We felt that there was a need in the community to put on an Easter Egg Hunt for the special needs children,” said Kings Lions Club President Roman Benitez. “We just felt that it was something that was missing. It was something that Lion Pini (Etchegoin) came up with, and so we all supported her, and this is the first year we’re holding this event.”

The Kings Lions had plenty of help. The Lemoore 4H Club had students showing off animals, especially chickens that the kids got to hold. The Lemoore football team was on hand as was the Lemoore Police Department Explorers Unit. Valley Animal Haven brought a bunch of animals, and the fire department brought out its staple: free truck rides.

Kings Lions sponsor first ever 'Beeping Easter Egg Hunt' for Shelly Baird School

The Lions also fed the contingent with fruit and hot dogs.

Etchegoin, the project’s coordinator, brought the idea to her club. “I saw the idea in one of our Lions Club magazines – an Easter Egg hunt for the visually impaired. “We said okay, we’ll do that, but since we realized there’s not a big visually impaired population of students in Kings County then Jeff Garcia (past president) said why don’t we just (extend) it to Shelly Baird?”

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