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Lucas C. Allison

Dispatch Correspondent

 

On Saturday April 19, 2025, the 2^nd Annual  Sheriff Robert Rodgers Memorial “Glow in the Dark” Easter Egg Hunt was held.  The event emcee was Rochelle Mayor Wayne McGuinty. It is estimated that approximately 200 to 250 children and their parents attended the event in which over 4000 glows in the dark eggs and 75 prize eggs were hidden for the children to find. With the help of volunteers over 4000 eggs were filled with candy and prizes in about an hour.  The first Wilcox Sheriff’s Department “glow in the dark” Easter egg hunt was held on April 15, 2017. The idea was born from the late Sheriff Robert Rodgers’ love to unite his staff members in fellowship and his love of children.  He also felt that it was appropriate for a sheriff’s office that “hunts at night”, should have an egg hunt at night.  The tradition grew over the years, starting with 40 participants in 2017, over 100 in 2023 and between 200 and 250 on Saturday. The event was being held at the McCall Farm property; however, it was Sheriff Rodgers’ desire to open the event up to the community and beginning last year it was held at the Wilcox County school complex lawn. There has been a “glow in the dark” egg hunt every year since its inception in 2017 except for 2020 due to COVID.  Sheriff Rodgers used to make the children wait until it was dark enough to hunt then he would yell “release the hounds” and the children would take off and the egg hunt had begun. Dr. Haley McCall Rodgers stated she felt like having the Sheriff Robert Rodgers “Glow in the Dark” Memorial Easter Egg Hunt was a fitting way to memorialize Sheriff Rodgers and his love for the community and the children.  She said it is her desire that the event becomes an annual event.  Considering attendance on Saturday night it seems like a great idea.  Dr. Rodgers thanked all who participated and who assisted in making the event a success.  She thanked Sheriff Craig Peavy and Dooly County Sheriff’s Department, Chief Jimmy Banks and Rochelle Police Department, Rochelle Fire Department, Sheriff Jeff Wessel and members of the Wilcox County Sheriff’s Department as they all pointed their patrol vehicles toward the lawn where the eggs were hidden.  The signal to “release the hounds” was when all the blue and red lights on the vehicles were turned on. The egg hunt is for little children up to the fifth grade, the lawn was separated by age and grade to make it a fun and fair event. Every child I saw had buckets and bags of eggs filled to the top, based on the children and adults I spoke with the second annual Sheriff Robert Rodgers “Glow in the Dark” Memorial Easter Egg Hunt was a huge success, and the participants stated they were looking forward to next year.