For many, this week is one of the most anticipated of the year.

Fair week.

The Mower County Fair is into its second day and by week’s end thousands will have walked through its gates for summer fun. The midway will be bustling, the grand stands will be shaking and animals will be shown.

It’s hectic, busy, often times chaotic and can pose a challenge for parents visiting the fair. There is plenty going on around visitors and kids will want to experience it all, so it becomes especially important to keep an eye on them.

Every year, the Mower County Sheriff’s Department is called on to find a missing child. Often the child is found sooner than later after the child is noticed missing, but there are also times when the search can last well into the night. With so much going on around visitors, it takes only a moment for a child to slip away and become lost in the activity.

It can be a scary moment for both parents and child.

As you are walking around the fair, please make the extra effort and take the extra steps in order to keep your children safe and have a plan just in case you become separated from your child: a cell phone, a familiar meeting place, etc.

Mower County Sheriff Steve Sandvik said that knowing where your child is at all times is the first step in keeping them from getting lost in the first place.

“There needs to be preinstruction between parent and child about going to public events,” Sandvik stressed. “Parents need to actually put the effort into keeping an eye on their children and not letting them run off on their own.”

Sandvik also said a portion of this conversation needs to include who a child can go to if they get lost, what identifies a trusted adult. That includes a member of the law enforcement (Mower County deputies or Austin police) and members of the reserves and the mounted posse.

Should a child become lost, parents are instructed to notify law enforcement or members of the Mower County Fair staff as soon as possible to facilitate a search quickly. The more people that are looking, the quicker a child will be found.

The fair is meant to be fun, so why ruin it with a night of worry and searching?

“The bottom line is it comes back to parents,” Sandvik said. “Have direct supervision over their children and keep them close by.”