Cheaters never win; sadly some kids aren't taught that

Last Saturday Ralph and I went to an Easter egg hunt to support the group organizing it. We were totally turned off by some of the parents there, teaching their children to cheat.

On Tuesday I wrote this blog post about it for the newspaper:


"Cheaters never win,
Winners never cheat."

By Patricia Villers
Register Staff

My husband and I attended an Easter egg hunt Saturday on the Derby Green.
We were there to support several friends who are members of the Derby Cultural Commission, sponsor of the annual event.

It was a sunny afternoon and lots of children and their parents and grandparents were on hand for some old-fashioned fun. 

The Easter Bunny even made an appearance.

Local magician Bryan Lizotte mesmerized the crowd of young and old with plenty of magic tricks before the egg hunt was scheduled to begin.
On Monday I posted this photo of the event.
The problem was when some of the parents and children started to inch away from the audience and inch toward the upper part of the Green where the candy had been placed for the hunt.
These parents really started to anger us as we were chatting with Cultural Commission members attempting to stand guard over the sweet treats.
Simply put, these folks were cheating and teaching their young children to cheat, by grabbing candy while most of the other children were still enjoying the magician's performance.

There was no excuse for that behavior. One of the teen-aged volunteers spreading the candy was actually threatened when he told a parent the hunt hadn't yet started.

Next year will be different, commission members said afterward. The area where the candy is placed will be cordoned off, to nip potential cheating in the bud.

It's a shame when the actions of an uneducated few can ruin an otherwise fun, family-oriented event.