Incredible, Audible Eggs

Students at the Blind Children’s Learning Center spent Wednesday morning scooping up some of the most high-tech Easter eggs around: L’eggs pantyhose containers fitted with beepers that emit a high-pitched wail.

The multicolored eggs were spread across the learning center’s front lawn as part of an annual ritual--now in its 11th year--that allows the preschoolers with sight impairments to participate in an Easter egg hunt.

Aided by parents and teachers, many of the 40 students were as interested in running their hands over the eggs as they were in finding them on the lawn.

Daniel Mallory, 6, said the beeping that filled the lawn area bothered his ears, but he couldn’t stop switching his green and white egg on and off.

“I think it’s neat,” said Patty Stewart, 35, who was at the school to help her two children. “It sounds like a bunch of crickets.”

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Each egg contains a beeper about the size of a quarter. Two short wires connect the beepers to a nine-volt battery and a silver toggle switch outside the egg. Polyester fibers pad the electronics. The plastic containers, which have holes drilled through them to allow sound, are just the right durability to withstand the pummeling they take from kids, volunteers said.

“Trying to retrieve these from the kids are a challenge,” said volunteer Dottie Mulkey, who hunts garage sales for the discontinued pantyhose containers. “We lose eggs every year. How can you say no to a kid who says, ‘I want to keep them’?”

Children, however, have an incentive to return the eggs--and usually do. At one end of the shade-covered lawn is a volunteer in a bunny costume who exchanges the beeping eggs for bags of chocolate and candy eggs.

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While some of the 49 children enrolled at the school are completely blind, others have partial eyesight, said spokeswoman Linn Morgan. About a dozen students without sight impairments also attend the school to help “mainstream” the other students.

The volunteers mostly consist of current and retired Pacific Bell employees, a group known as the Pacific Bell Pioneers. For more than 10 years, they have provided the candy and beeping eggs for the Easter egg hunts at the learning center. The Pioneers have sponsored similar events in Los Angeles County.

At the learning center on Wednesday, with dozens of children clamoring for beeping eggs, Morgan described the scene as “a little chaotic.”

But, she added, “It’s a real fun time.”

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Eggs and More

Bunnies, egg hunts, craft fairs and pancake breakfasts are part of the Easter celebrations taking place across the county through this weekend. Many cities, as well as clubs and churches, are sponsoring events.

Anaheim

* Saturday: 9:30 a.m. egg hunt for children up to 12 years; fee: $2. Games, crafts and lunch afterward for children 5 to 12 years; fee, $5. Two locations: Brookhurst Park, 2271 W. Crescent Ave., and Peralta Park, 115 N. Pinney Drive. Preregistration recommended for egg hunts (limited to 150 children in each age division) and required for play day. Registration and information: (714) 254-5191.

* All weekend: Biggsby Bunny will make 15-minute visits to homes and offices, giving out candy and mingling with youngsters. Fee: $30 Friday, $40 Saturday or Sunday, with added charge for visits outside city limits. Information and reservations: (714) 254-5274.

Garden Grove

* Saturday: Easter Carnival, with games, prizes, giant egg hunt, bunny photos and face paintings on Main Street between Garden Grove Boulevard and Acacia Parkway; 10 a.m.-3 p.m., with egg hunt in Village Green Park at 1:30 p.m. Cost: game tickets, 25 cents

each; bunny photos, $2.50 to $4. Information: (714) 741-5200.

Huntington Beach

* Saturday: Annual Easter Egg Hunt, Huntington Central Park, 10 a.m., with crafts, game booths, entertainment and egg hunt for children 9 years or younger. Next to Breakfast in the Park restaurant near Edwards Street. Information: (714) 536-5486.

Los Alamitos

* Saturday: Egg hunt, Little Cottonwood Park, 4000 Farquhar Ave. Children 2 to 6 years may bring sack or basket to take part in 10 a.m. event, followed by games and races. Information: (562) 430-1073.

Placentia

* Saturday: Egg hunt, pancake breakfast and bunny photos; Kraemer Park, 201 N. Bradford Ave. Cost for 8 a.m. pancake breakfast: $3 for individuals or $10 for families. Free egg hunt at 10 a.m. open to children 1 to 9 years old. Participants should bring a container. Information: (714) 993-8232.

Rancho Santa Margarita

* Saturday: Hunt for 20,000 stuffed eggs, Trabuco Mesa Park, Antonio Parkway and Los Flores Street. First hunt, for children 2 to 3 years, begins at 8:30 a.m.; for 4- and 5-year-olds, 9 a.m.; for 10- to 14-year-olds, 10:30 a.m. Free. Pancake breakfast offered at 7 a.m. for $2 per person. Information: (714) 459-0364.

Santa Ana

* Saturday: Santa Ana Zoo’s fourth annual Spring Sp”EGG”tacular, 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Features games and educational activities, crafts and seed plantings, plus visits from the Easter bunny. Zoo is at Prentice Park, 1801 E. Chestnut Ave. Cost: $3.50 for adults, $1.50 for children 3 to 12. Information: (714) 953-8555.

Tustin

* Saturday: Egg hunt for children to age 9; Tustin Sports Park, Jamboree Road and Robinson Drive. Free event from 10 to 11:30 a.m. will feature game booths, face painting, crafts and balloon clown. Information: (714) 573-3325.

Source: Individual cities; Researched by LESLEY WRIGHT / For The Times