Troy park hosts first Easter egg hunt

Knickerbacker Park hosted its first Easter egg hunt on Saturday.

TROY - There's a lot of space at a park near 103rd Street and 8th Avenue in Troy. Knickerbacker Park is hosting its first Easter egg hunt on Saturday. Hundreds of bags of candy are waiting to be given out. Volunteers are putting stickers on thousands of eggs.

"Kids are going to be tasked with finding one of each kind of sticker, and they're going to get bags provided to them with little guides," said Knickerbacker Park Board President Marc Pallozzi.

Once kids find all the stickers, they get a bag of candy.

Pallozzi wants people to come to Knickerbacker Park to have fun and enjoy being outside in the city of Troy. "It's a tough period right now," he said. "There's obviously a lot of violence occurring, not just in the city of Troy, but all over. A lot of people feel helpless in terms of what can they do to contribute, to do something positive. And the short answer to that is you do what you can." He and the board were behind the successful Halloween event at the park that brought in hundreds of children who lined up to trick-or-treat. That Halloween idea came about after the shooting death of 11-year-old Ayshawn Davis in September, when families were on edge about gun violence.

Now, after 12-year-old MJ Rivera was seriously injured in his home in a drive-by shooting this month, community safety is once again on a lot of minds. "We're not going to be able to stop the shootings, but we're going to be able to at least instill a little faith and trust in the community that there are a lot of good people left here doing good things for others," said Pallozzi. "And that's what we want to do for Troy. And that's what the Knickerbacker Park Board is going to continue to do for Troy." There's no need to sign up. Children can just show up at Knickerbacker Park. The event is Saturday from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m., and it's free. (Originally posted on WNYT.com at https://wnyt.com/troy-new-york-news/troy-lansingburgh-easter-egg-hunt-knickerbacker-park-children-candy-eggs-/6059324/)