WJVO Easter Egg Hunt Brings 7,000 Eggs to Morgan County Fairgrounds

WJVO's annual Easter Egg Hunt turned the Morgan County Fairgrounds into a half-day family festival Saturday, March 28, with 7,000 eggs distributed across age-divided hunting fields and a lineup of activities that drew families from Jacksonville and surrounding communities including Meredosia, Franklin, and Waverly.

Station staff divided the fairgrounds into separate hunting zones for age groups ranging from toddlers through fourth graders, releasing participants in timed waves designed to prevent the kind of overcrowding that can derail events of this scale. Hidden among the 7,000 eggs were prize-drawing eggs, giving participants a secondary incentive beyond filling their baskets.

Beyond the egg fields, the fairgrounds hosted bounce houses, sponsor booths, and short live broadcasts that WJVO staff conducted on-site, anchoring the day as something considerably more than a standard community egg hunt. Organizers also arranged parking logistics, restroom access, and a first-aid presence, reflecting both the event's size and the station's accumulated experience running the hunt across multiple years.

Area businesses that sponsored the hunt received on-air mentions and community goodwill in return, connecting local advertisers directly to the families WJVO serves. Student volunteers and local service clubs used the event as both an event-management training ground and a platform for small fundraising efforts.

WJVO, a local country music and community radio station, has built the egg hunt into one of the more visible free events on the Morgan County calendar. The fairgrounds' footprint gave the station room to scale participation higher than most neighborhood venues would allow, and families who stopped in Jacksonville for meals or shopping extended the event's economic reach into the surrounding downtown.

Organizers closed the day by inviting community feedback to shape next year's hunt, signaling that the event is treated as a recurring civic investment rather than a seasonal promotion.