The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Child Safe Fair educates parents
Parents and children of all ages gathered at Troy Intermediate School, 237 Belmar Blvd., in Avon Lake, April 2 for the seventh annual Child Safe Community Day Fair.
The event is co-sponsored by the North Coast Rotary Club and Jeff Ellis’ International Karate Centers.
The day is filled with several members of law enforcement and various public service agencies donating time to lecture and distribute information concerning the protection and safety of children.
“I started this because I wanted something that would have a huge impact in the community,” said Jeff Ellis, owner of the International Karate Centers and spearhead of the fair. “We are helping parents make the right decisions.”
The fair also had multiple activities for children to take advantage of including, build-a-bunny, an Easter egg hunt and pictures with the Easter Bunny.
Cheryl Esry, of Bay Village, brought her six-yearold son, Joshua Esry, to be apart of the fair.
“This is my first time coming to this event, but I think it’s a really nice safety event,” she said. “Joshua really enjoyed building a bunny, that was his favorite part.”
John Nakel, member of North Coast Rotary Club, has been apart of the event for a number of years.
“It is a great safety event to get the community to come out and have fun while getting educated on protecting our children,” Nakel said.
Parents received a child identification card, fingerprints and a personal description record with a photo, according to Sgt. Les Carrender of the Avon Lake Police Department.
“The reason we do this is because if a child is lost, parents will get in a panic state, not allowing them to give accurate information or description of the child,” he said. “The card allows parents to hand it to us, and we will then have information to put out in Amber Alert if need be.”
Carrender advises parents to update the Identification cards about every three years.
“I know parents don’t want to update the card every year, but we recommend doing it every couple years because children are constantly growing,” Carrender said.
“We are helping parents make the right decisions.” — Jeff Ellis, owner of the International Karate Centers and spearhead of the fair