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Show Child safety program to debut at Main Street Marketplace by JANICE PERRY Record editor Imagine the feeling. Your child didn't come home. You call the police and they take a report and ask questions. What does the child look like? Do you have a picture? Any identifying marks? In your panic it's hard to remember. This weekend at the Main Street Marketplace mall, a coalition of local merchants, police and dentists will join forces to help create identity identi-ty kits for local children that will help in such a crisis. On Friday night, Saturday and Sunday parents can have their-children their-children photographed, fingerprinted finger-printed and have dental charts made as an hedge against tragedy. "It's a program geared to provide parents with identification informa-" informa-" tion they may need in the future," said mall spokesman Jim Bailey. "It doesn't mean we necessarily an-? an-? ticipate a violent activity, but if a child disappears, in the heat of the moment parents don't have to remember bits of information." The child safety program is sponsored spon-sored by Debbi and Randy Fields along with the Main Street Marketplace merchants in coopera-tion coopera-tion with the Adam Walsh Child Resource Centers. The name of Adam Walsh in re-, cent years has become a battle cry , in the fight for children's rights. The 6-year-old Hollywood, Fla., boy disappeared four years ago. Only his head was found, floating in an irrigation irriga-tion canal 24 hours after he vanished. vanish-ed. The TV movie, "Adam," depicted the boy's abduction and its aftermath. after-math. When the boy first vanished, police refused to help, saying a certain cer-tain number of hours had to pass before the child could be considered missing. "John Walsh (Adam's father) got so angry he spent the next four years of his life changing the way law enforcement en-forcement and the whole country dear with violence against children," Bailey said. Walsh later was named a presidential adviser on child advocacy. Walsh, with the cooperation of Sen. Paula Hawkins, R-Fla., forced the establishment of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children in the Department of Justice. The center is a clearinghouse clear-inghouse for information on vanished vanish-ed children. His voice has been heard across . the nation, urging lawmakers to protect pro-tect children and to deal harshly ' with those who harm youngsters. Walsh's efforts will reach Park " City this weekend as a variety of events are planned at the mall in conjunction with the child safety . program. Those events include: ' The "Stranger Danger" puppet show, presented by Dale Ann Wright of the West Valley City Police Department "Too Smart for Strangers," a Walt Disney video starring Winnie the Pooh, Jocko the Clown with his animal balloons Free balloons Drawings for teddy bears from the new mall shop, Bear Facts; children's books from Crystal Books; food coupons from the Deli Factory, Pizza Cutter and Molly's; and prizes from other mall merchants mer-chants Dental charts will be drawn up by local dentists Mitch Bailey and Richard Barnes, together with some Army Reserve dentists from Salt Lake City, Bailey said. He stressed that all information generated by the program will be given to the child's parents or guardian. guard-ian. Children can be photographed, fingerprinted and have dental charts made from 6 to 9 p.m. Friday night, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and 1 to 5 p.m. Sunday. |