Dig the wicker baskets out of the attic or the garage and maybe get in a couple stretches — the annual Easter egg hunt returns to the Grays Harbor County Fairgrounds at the end of the month.

The 20th annual Easter Egg Hunt sponsored and organized by the Elma VFW Auxiliary will be held Saturday, March 31. Children 10 years old and younger can participate. Line up begins at 11:30 a.m.

The hunt has attracted more than 750 kids in each of the last five years. Those numbers likely will hold steady in 2018.

Throughout the fairgrounds, plastic eggs are scattered. Within the eggs are either candy and chocolates, or tickets for prizes. The eggs are scattered within six roped off areas which keeps age groups separate to ensure every child has a reasonable chance at candy and prizes. Last year, the 14,000 eggs were collected within 5 minutes.

This year, the 2-year-old and 3-year-old groups will be split up, and no parents will be allowed in the field, organizer Irene Wickwire said.

“It wasn’t fair that the parents were picking up the eggs,” Wickwire explains.

About 290 prizes were available last year. Prizes included bicycles, riding toys and Easter baskets.

This year, organizers are hoping the annual Easter hunt can benefit more than just the kids who grab eggs. Organizers are coupling the event with a food drive. Participants are asked to bring a nonperishable food items for donation. The food will be collected at the gate and donated to the local food banks.

Bayview Redi-Mix of Elma is loaning a truck for the day to hold the food for the food drive.

“We’re hoping to get enough food to fill the truck,” Wickwire said.

This year also marks 20 years that the Elma VFW Auxiliary has hosted the event.

“It’s been a lot of work and a lot of fundraising. We do Bingos to do fundraising, and we get donations from companies,” Wickwire said.

Wickwire added that she has no plans of throwing in the towel.

“As long as I can do it, I’m going to keep doing it. I’m not going to stop just because it’s 20 years,” she said. “It’s a lot of work, and time consuming, but I don’t have anything else to do.”

A dozen volunteers are helping Wickwire stuff the plastic eggs with candy. More than 9,000 eggs were already stuffed as of March 20.

“We still have a little over 3,000 to do,” Wickwire said.