How Vanderburgh County Sheriff’s Office ‘Find A Parent Program’ Helps Reunite Parents with Lost Children at Evansville’s Fall Festival

The 101st annual West Side Nut Club Fall Festival is underway on Franklin Street and thankfully, Mother Nature has blessed us with beautiful weather the entire week which means you can expect large crowds of people each and every day packing themselves in and looking to fill their bellies with delicious food, riding rides, playing games, and catching up with people they haven't seen in a while. That's what the festival is all about. But, all those sights, sounds, smells, and people can also be attractive to young kids, leading them to take off towards them without telling you. The next thing you know, you look down, your child isn't there, and the panic sets in. Thanks to a partnership between the West Side Nut Club and the Vanderburgh County Sheriff's Office, the separation time between you and your child will hopefully be short.

Fall Festival "Find a Parent Program"

If you're a parent, you know how it feels when you're kid walks away from you without realizing it at a grocery or department store. Your heart starts to race, you start breathing heavily, and you even feel your body temperature start to rise a bit as you look for them. It happened to me a time or two when my kids were younger. It's not a good feeling. To get separated from them at the Fall Festival is an entirely different deal altogether. Unlike the grocery store or Target, they may simply be in the next aisle, they could be anywhere in the sea of humanity on Franklin Street. But, with a little planning and a quick stop at the intersection of 11th & Franklin when you first get to the festival, the panic attack can be brief.

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The "Find a Parent Program" is free and only takes a few minutes of your time. Stop by the Sheriff's Office tent in front of the Lost & Found booth in the middle of the intersection of 11th and Franklin and ask one of the deputies if you can get a wristband. Before the deputy puts it on your child's wrist, they'll have you write your name and phone number on it in the event you get separated from your child at some point during your visit to the festival.

Be sure to point out any and all law enforcement representatives or West Side Nut Club members to your child and tell them that if the two of you get separated to find one of those individuals and ask them to call the number on the wristband.

That's all there is to it. A few extra minutes before hitting the food booths or the rides could save you a panic attack later. It sounds pretty worth it to me.

[Source: West Side Nut Club on Facebook]