As soon as the firetruck with the Easter Bunny arrived at the Lawrence County Courthouse Tuesday evening, the Easter egg hunt began as many children and their families filled the courthouse lawn.

The event is put on by the Ironton Fire Department and the Ironton Business Association and has been going on for at least 25 years, Brent Pyles, event volunteer and former Ironton Business Association member, said.

“It was originally an Ironton Business District Easter egg hunt,” Louie Sheridan, Ironton firefighter, said. “We’ve always brought the Easter Bunny up on a firetruck, but about seven or eight years ago, we never got a call about the Easter Bunny and the IBA decided not to have it that year. They said that they didn’t have enough manpower to set up the Easter egg hunt. That’s when the Ironton Fire Department started helping out and it has been a joint effort ever since.”

The fire department fills the eggs and sets up for the hunt, while the Ironton Business Association provides all of the eggs and treats, Sheridan said.

“The Easter egg hunt started out at the courthouse, but we had to move it to the soccer fields for a couple years while they were doing some work here,” Sheridan said. “We wanted to bring it back to the courthouse this year.”

The Lawrence County Sheriff’s Office and health department purchased 135 Easter baskets to give away, so the fire department put stickers on 135 of the eggs. The rest of the eggs contained candy.

Following the Easter egg hunt, the Easter Bunny was available for photos and the children that had stickered eggs lined up for their Easter baskets.