Instead of brightly-colored Easter dresses and short-sleeve shirts, the children participating in this year's annual Easter egg hunt at Rockfield Manor in Bel Air wore brightly-colored winter coats and festive knit caps on a day that resembled midwinter, rather than the early spring a week before Easter.
Children tried to catch snowflakes on their tongues as they and their parents were buffeted by high winds and snow flurries while waiting for the go-ahead from Mark Welsh, the president of the Rockfield Manor Foundation board, to grab as many eggs as they could from where they were scattered on the grounds behind the manor house.
Welsh counted down, and a crowd of up to 90 children, followed by parents snapping pictures and recording video, surged forward, eager for the plastic eggs that contained prizes, candy and gum.
Within a few minutes, the children had gathered up about 3,000 eggs, many of which were in plain sight on the grass, or they were in the various bushes and around flower beds on the manor grounds.
The eggs were purchased by the Rockfield Foundation.
Despite temperatures in the low 30s, biting cold wind and swirling snow, the crowd at this year's egg hunt was similar to the crowd for the 2014 egg hunt, which was held in mid-April when temperatures were in the 60s and the skies were sunny.
"I thought it was very good," Welsh said later regarding the turnout. "We were going to initially put out about half of the eggs, and as the crowd built, we put out another 1,000 eggs or so."
Many families did not stick around, however, as the intensity of the flurries picked up after the hunt ended.
"Thanks for coming," Welsh said as people left. "Thanks for spending four minutes with us."
Olivia Melvern, 6, of Belcamp, took part in the hunt with her mother, Carrie. Olivia participated in the hunt last year, when she snagged more than 60 eggs, but she only picked up about eight eggs Saturday.
She noted she still had fun, despite the cold, and she expressed excitement about the chewing gum in her eggs.
"I have a blue piece of bubble gum in my hand, and I have a pink one in my mouth," she said after the hunt.
Kristin Hennessy, of Bel Air, brought her 2-and-a-half-year-old son, Parker, for his first Rockfield Easter egg hunt, and he was dressed in a coat, snow boots, a winter hat and gloves.
She showed off her son's haul, which included eight eggs and a pine cone.
"It was fun," Hennessy said. "He had a good time. We met some friends out here."
The two sons of Jenny Dombeck, executive director of Rockfield Manor, also participated in the hunt.
"They're happy to get outside," she said. "It's been such a long winter; I think all the kids are happy to get outside."
Dombeck said organizers did not plan to cancel the hunt, despite the cold and snow.
"It's an annual event, and its a great community event that we love to host for all the children and families, and we decided we weren't going to let the snow ruin a fun event," she said.
Families were charged $5 admission, and the proceeds will benefit the foundation, Welsh said.
Welsh said the foundation has been putting the Easter egg hunt on for about 10 years, and it has only been canceled when "it was pouring down rain."
"Unless it's raining really hard, we try to put it on," he said.