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WILKES-BARRE &#8212; Children were bundled up in their warmest winter attire Saturday while standing in line for a chance to meet the Easter Bunny at Firwood Park.Easter Bunny decorations lined the platform, and a pine tree was decorated in paper egg ornaments by the art classes at Kistler Elementary School.It was the District A Fund&#8217;s inaugural Easter event at the park.Children lined up to sit with the Easter Bunny and have their photo taken by FotoFink Photography, of Plains. While waiting in line to receive the photo, children were given a District A Fund bag filled with sweets, as well as a Crayola Twistable Crayons set.Janine Rauson of South Wilkes-Barre attended the event with her family. She said the children had a good time and enjoyed getting candy from the Easter Bunny.&#8220;They got peanut butter cups, Hersheys bars, jelly beans,&#8221; she said. &#8220;They had a good time. It was good for the kids.&#8221;The District A Committee is a nonprofit, non-political group that raises funds to help the community in the District A area, which is primarily comprised of South Wilkes-Barre.Rick Gazenski, of South Wilkes-Barre, is a District A Fund Committee member. He said, since the group&#8217;s inception seven years ago, the committee has helped raise $65 to 70,000 to assist with various projects. This includes installing fences, benches and dugouts in various fields and parks throughout the area, as well as holding events such as the Easter event today.&#8220;The District A Fund asks the community to go to our website (www.WBDistrictAFund.org) and propose a project for us to fund,&#8221; Gazenski said. &#8220;We then vote on a project and start raising the funds needed to complete it.&#8221;He said while the committee only works on one project at a time, they receive funding from local and non-local groups.&#8220;We have so many loyal funders that give us so much, not only for District A, but for everyone,&#8221; he said. &#8220;Some are local businesses and groups. Others once lived here and have since moved away, but feel the need to help their hometown still. We couldn&#8217;t do this event today without help like that.&#8221;Gazenski said he was very pleased with the turnout for the event and will plan to make it annual, along with the Santa Claus event at Christmas. Although Santa has been coming to Firwood Park for 35 years, the committee took over the event two years ago.The committee announced they have plans to install a pavilion in Firwood Park in the coming months.

Easter Bunny greets children at Firwood Park in Wilkes-Barre