Correspondent photos / Sean Barron A sand volleyball court in Austintown Township Park was the site of much fun for children and adults who participated in the second annual Treasure Dig on Saturday.

AUSTINTOWN — Viola Heck, 8, really digs traveling and has set a goal of visiting all 50 states by the time she graduates from high school.

The traveling aspect is especially true and her excitement level is magnified when adventures such as treasure hunts are tossed into the mix.

“She loves anything outdoors,” Viola’s mother, Stephanie Heck of Bolivar, said. “This kid has been digging since she was a baby.”

Donning a small light-blue plastic shovel and partially matching turquoise ball cap, Viola found herself true to form as she joined hundreds of other children and adults who converted a sand volleyball court at Austintown Township Park into a makeshift geological hunting ground as they took part in the second annual Treasure Dig on Saturday afternoon.

In effect, the big dig was two such gatherings — one each for children up to age 5 and the other for those ages 6 to 13.

Before traveling about an hour to participate in the four-hour funfest, Viola had been much farther from the homefront, because she recently traveled with the family to Hawaii. Before that, she lived in Florida for about a year, her mother said.

So far, her daughter has been in 13 states, mostly those along the East Coast, Stephanie Heck added.

“It’s four times what we had last year,” Sylvia Solis, event organizer, said, referring to Saturday’s large crowd that, early on, left little spare space on the sand.

Before the treasure items were unearthed, Solis had bought a wide assortment of gems, small rocks, fossils, stones, bracelets, arrowheads, shark teeth and other small pieces of jewelry. Also included were golden tickets from which various prizes were redeemed, she said.

Solis bought perhaps 98% of the merchandise used for the dig from V-Rock Shop LLC, a Canton-based retail business.

In addition, she has a travel blog called “Hitting the Highway with Hannah,” named after her 18-year-old daughter, Hannah Solis, who spent much of her childhood enjoying treasure hunts, Solis explained.

“Kids want to do something different,” Solis said about a driving force behind Saturday’s event, and added that she expects next year’s gathering the third Saturday in June to grow.

“This is better than having kids sitting on their iPads all day. They’re out doing stuff instead of sitting around doing nothing,” Mark Amaismeier of Boardman, said.

At least two children took a prolonged break from electronic devices and idle time: Amaismeier’s daughters, Abigail Amaismeier, 6, and older sister, Eleanor Amaismeier, 8, who traded in the above-ground technological devices for what was underground.

Consequently, the two siblings dug up, then took home, handfuls of small stones, gems and other similar finds.

Also part of Saturday’s dig was Jeremiah Doo, 18 months; older brother, Jasper Doo, 7; and stepsister, Serynade Wilson, 5. Even though the three children at one point had not found anything under the sand, they unearthed a fun and enjoyable experience, their mother, Leanna Joye of Hubbard, said.

Calling Saturday’s family-friendly event “a fun community activity,” Joye said she learned about it on Facebook and “figured it would be something fun for them to do in the neighborhood,” she added.

Solis also thanked park officials for providing the space for the Treasure Dig.