Eggfest moved to Saturday night

Friday, April 15, 2011
Good Egg Partners, from right to left, Matthew Welker of Matthew Welker Allstate Insurance, Chris Shuck of Putnam County Tobacco Prevention and Cessation Director, Jan Firebaugh of Friends of the Park Association of Greencastle and Troy Scott, Asst. Director for the Greencastle Parks and Recreation, are preparing for the Eggfest by setting up this sign at Robe-Ann Park.

The seventh annual Eggfest, originally slated for Friday night in Robe-Ann Park, has been moved to 9 p.m. Saturday amid concerns about the weather. Outside of the new date, the details of the event are largely unchanged.

The nighttime teen egg hunt, is for youth in grades 6-12 only, and will have everyone scrambling for prize-stuffed eggs to the beat of music by WGRE 91.5. Among the many prizes donated by local "Good Egg" businesses, the egg everyone will be searching to find will be the "Golden Egg" prize, a Dell Laptop Mini Netbook provided by Putnam County's Tobacco Prevention and Cessation.

Registration is at the park, beginning at 7:30 p.m. and lasting until 8:50 p.m. Registration forms will be available at the official EggFest 2011 website http://eggfest.org, as well as local high schools and middle schools and at the event. Participants must have a signed permission slip. The cost to hunt eggs is $5, with the official EggFest 2011 T-shirts available to purchase of $12. The hunt will begin at 9 p.m.

Food will be available for purchase and other fun activities will be provided. Chris Shuck, Putnam County Tobacco Prevention & Cessation director, will be encouraging teens to take the pledge to be tobacco-free, as well a Matthew Welker Allstate Insurance representative, asking teens to sign the "X the TXT" banner and pledge not to text and drive.

Putnam County Tobacco Prevention and Cessation, Voice, Indiana's youth led movement to "expose the unfair marketing practices of the tobacco industry", and Matthew Welker Allstate Insurance -- "Thumbs Up to X the TXT" program -- a nationwide Allstate campaign to raise awareness about the dangers of texting while driving, are teaming up with Greencastle Parks and Recreation, Friends of the Park Association of Greencastle and corporate sponsors, Kroger, No. 4388 Fraternal Order of Eagles, and Peebles, for the event.

The Friends of the Park Association organizers are excited to have these community agencies co-sponsor this event as a way to raise awareness of two very important issues that effect teens. According to Indiana Tobacco Prevention and Cessation, approximately 3,000 Indiana teens start smoking every year. One out of every three of those youth who continue to smoke will eventually die from tobacco related diseases.

Texting is one of the most dangerous distractions facing drivers today, particularly among teens, of which car crashes are the number one killer. According to a recent Allstate Foundation study, 49 percent of driving teens admit to being extremely distracted by texting and instant messaging while driving. Texting takes a driver's eyes off the road for an average of five seconds. At 55 mph, it's like driving the length of a football field completely blind. Just reaching for the phone in a car increases the risk of a crash by nine times. And, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports driver distraction contributes to 25 percent of all police-reported traffic crashes.

To get more information about EggFest '2011', the list of prizes, the annual t-shirt design and the "Good Egg" sponsors, visit the website http://eggfest.org or contact assistant director Troy Scott at the Greencastle Parks and Recreation Dept. at 653-3395.

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