HUNDREDS FLOCK TO EDUCATIONAL EVENT

JACKSON -- Twenty-five children's services vendors and hundreds of kids and parents packed the Primary Annex Tuesday night for the first Kid Care Fair.

Sponsored by the Jackson Primary Annex Parent-Teacher Organization, the event was billed as an opportunity for parents to learn about the services available for their children.

Representatives of the Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts, Southeast Missouri Hospital, St. Francis Medical Center and several other businesses and non-profit organizations crowded into the school gymnasium to demonstrate their services.

PTO member Kay Keller, who spent the evening filling balloons with helium, said this was a new project for her organization.

"Instead of asking parents to give, give, give, we thought it would be nice to return some favors," she said. "We felt there was a need for parents to have information about the organizations that can help their kids."

The PTO members' ideas were well received by vendors -- most agreed to be a part of the show right away.

Organizers decided the displays should be set up in a carnival atmosphere, with clowns, puppet shows, prizes and balloons. Keller had filled nearly 300 balloons by 7 p.m. The fair started at 6:30 p.m., but people were lined up by 6 p.m.

Annex Principal Rose Tallent said it wasn't unusual for kindergarten events to attract a large turnout, but the number of parents who showed up Tuesday exceeded expectations.

"It may be the parents' first child, so they are very interested in the child's school career," Tallent said. "And parents are facing many concerns now that they didn't a few years ago."

She said 404 students attend school at the Annex, and all of their parents, along with parents of first-graders at other schools, were invited.

Cape Girardeau County Health Department Director Charlotte Craig used the event to educate parents about their children's immunizations. She said about half the parents she spoke to knew about the health department's services and had taken their children there for shots.

Kindergarten-aged students need a DPT booster, a polio booster and a measles-mumps-rubella shot, she said.

Another health-care professional, American Red Cross Safety Director Shawnna Rhine, was at the fair to advertise Red Cross CPR and first-aid classes.

It's important for parents to know about first aid and child safety because injuries are the leading cause of death for people aged 44 and under, she said.

"We had one lady ask us to demonstrate how to save an infant from choking," Rhine said, holding a special CPR doll. "This is a worthwhile event -- one they should do every year."

PTO communications chairwoman Cynthia Kothe said PTO members change every year, so it would be up to next year's group to decide whether to do another Kid Care Fair.