March 28, 2024

Newton girls help lost children at the Iowa State Fair

DES MOINES — You’re waiting for your grandson to take his turn on the big yellow slide at the Iowa State Fair. It’s hot outside so you tell him you’re going to get a lemonade and you’ll be right back, but when you return you can’t find him. You scan the line, the slide, the surrounding children and the line again, but you don’t see him anywhere. You begin to panic.

This is an example of an instance that happens nearly every day at the Iowa State Fair. A child goes missing, and the Iowa State Patrol Lost Kids staff are prepared for this situation.

Across from the grand stand, inside the Horner Service Center is the Lost Kids room, a hub for lost children or parents in search of their children. A first aid room is next door.

The Lost Kids room is well lit with windows, and has games, toys and a bed to make the children comfortable. Outside of the room is a desk with a computer, pager and phone for staff.

Some Newton girls help run the Iowa State Patrol Lost Kids area including: Sam Cutts, Kristin Samson, Evelyn Berryhill, Amanda Reynolds, Dusti Antle, and Grace Dethrow. They work with Iowa State Fair Public Safety and Iowa State Patrol including trooper Doug Cutts, of Newton.

Lost Kids staff is responsible for making an Iowa State Fair page for lost children 11 and under, lost or disorientated senior citizens and emergencies.

The purpose of their job is to communicate with authorities and help care for children who become separated from their caregivers.

“I like talking to the kids and knowing that we’re helping them calm down if they’re worried,” said Berryhill, a Newton High School 2016 graduate who has worked at Lost Kids for two years.

When a child is brought to the Lost Kids room, staff pages for parents, if parents’ names are known, and calls the compound where they radio out to state patrol the child’s information. The compound is a Public Safety headquarters of the state fair, operated by director Russ Slight.

Staff also fills out a form with the child’s name, date, time and location received, and parents name and keeps the child calm and occupied with toys.

“I can’t imagine as a child being lost at the fair, and we want to be able to help. If they are scared, we help them feel at home and not feel worried,” Samson said.

A similar protocol is done if the parents arrive at the Lost Kids area before a child and information is taken and the child’s name will be paged. Names are paged every 15 minutes the first hour and twice within the next hour.

The number of lost children depends on the day and how busy the fair is. One day may be none and the next may be five. It varies, Samson said.

Samson, a Newton High School 2013 graduate, has worked at the Lost Kids room for four years and has seen a change in frequency of lost children at the Iowa State Fair.

“It’s slowed down a lot now. At the beginning, you’d get four of five kids a day, and now it has gotten, I think with technology and kids having phones at younger ages, that we don’t have as many kids in here because if they get lost they can call their parents,” she said.

The girls recommend parents write down the child’s name and phone numbers for the children to hang onto, or an information bracelet to wear, and to inform children to find and tell state troopers or officials they get lost.

“When the child and the parents are reunited, and the excitement and relief you can feel when they reunite, it’s a fun thing,” Samson said.

Contact Kate Malott at
641-792-6533
or kmalott@newondailynews.com