Candy, not baseball, the name of the game at South Holland egg drop

SOUTH HOLLAND | For 6-year-old Malik Reese, Sunday was a very good day.

After visiting his grandmother in South Holland and going to church with his family, Malik went to Thornwood High School where he participated in the south suburb's first Easter egg drop.

A helicopter showered the high school's athletic fields with some 2,000 plastic eggs stuffed with candy or coupons to go along with about 5,000 plastic eggs that volunteers had scattered across the fields.

Malik was among approximately 500 kids who rushed onto the field to seize some candy.

But the people from River Oaks Community Church in South Holland who helped coordinate the egg drop made things a bit interesting by mixing in with the various eggs a few big bags of candy.

Which is how Malik happened upon a 56-ounce bag of M&Ms.

After looking to his left and right to see if anyone else was going to claim the bag and seeing no one, he quickly snatched it up to add it to his other loot -- two plastic eggs and a small bag of jelly beans.

Holding up his top prize, Malik said, "I'm going to share this with my friends."

The Rev. Troy O'Quin, pastor at River Oaks Community, said he was inspired to organize the event after seeing similar helicopter egg drops in other towns in Illinois and Indiana. He said he thinks he learned from mistakes he saw other towns make.

"There are a few things we know not to do," O'Quin said.

About the closest to a glitch that occurred Sunday involved the helicopter. While the athletic field was roped off into sections meant for differing age groups so that older kids didn't get all the candy, the helicopter blew all of those ropes and markers away.

When Village President Don De Graff and state Rep. Thaddeus Jones, D-Calumet City, gave the order to the children to hunt for eggs, the field where three major leaguers played their high school baseball became a near free-for-all. Kids attempted to pick up anything that looked remotely edible.

Most children appeared satisfied -- and one mother, after seeing the Aurelio's pizza coupon in her child's egg, was especially pleased.

"This is tomorrow's dinner," she said.

Even Malik seemed pleased, saying as he and his mother left the field, "This is good."