So where do you find your lost kid?

Face it, it's a sign you never want to look for, but it's there if you need it.

Bright orange by the office building at the North Idaho Fair and Rodeo, the sign is the one marking the lost child booth.

But many end up heading for it, said Ronda Martin, president of the Kootenai County Emergency Auxiliary that has been running the booth for years.

"When it gets dark is when (the booth) gets busy," she said, recalling one 2-year-old found wandering in the parking lot after nightfall.

The best thing parents can do, Martin said, is be prepared.

The booth provides paper wristbands parents can scribble important information on and latch onto their children.

She emphasized the booth doesn't save those numbers through the entire fair, though.

Some lost kids who end up at the booth don't know their parents' names, she pointed out. Some don't even know their own and some are too young to voice anything.

Although the number of lost kids at the fairgrounds has dropped in recent years, Martin said, there are occasions when the booth has folks searching for a few kids at a time.

Parents should teach their cell numbers to their children. Parents should also snap a camera phone photo of kids before entering the fair, to give an easy reference for searchers.

Even if none of those steps have been taken, Martin noted that the booth's searchers will troll the grounds as long as it takes to connect families.

"We've never not found anyone," she said.