KidShow takes place at Great Lakes Mall in Mentor

Mar. 23—The annual KidShow achieved a milestone in 2024.

This year's KidShow, which took place from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. March 23 at Great Lakes Mall in Mentor, marked the event's 25-year anniversary.

"I think that it really has become a tradition for families to attend the KidShow," said event producer Pat Perry, who is president of ProMark Enterprises. "It's super cool that adults who came to some of the KidShows as kids themselves now come and bring their kids."

KidShow, which always has been held at Great Lakes Mall, strives to provide an abundance of information for parents who want to learn more about products and services for children. At the same time, event offers plenty of fun for children.

"It's a free event, and there are a lot of kids activities and a lot of parental resources," Perry said. "All of those things have really helped the success of the event."

More than 150 companies and organizations were involved in this year's KidShow, in roles that included providing literature for event visitors, and serving as sponsors or exhibitors.

"And our exhibitors know our goal is really to be one big resource for parents and a connector for parents," Perry said. "So we're able to do that year after year and bring people into the mall.

"We get great crowds for the event and that keeps exhibitors coming back because they know they're hitting their target market — they want to talk to those parents."

Huntington Learning Center was one of the exhibitors at this year's show.

"We are a tutoring service for students and we support anything that supports positive engagement for students in the community," said Kim Walter, executive director of the center's Mentor and Mayfield Heights locations.

Walter said Huntington Learning Center also was promoting its summer program, which is intended "to keep kids academically engaged all summer long, and give them a strong start at their schools in the fall."

Other exhibitors included early childhood learning centers; health and fitness businesses; photographers; real-estate companies; travel and tourism businesses and organizations; and financial service providers.

When it came to entertainment at KidShow, kids and families got the chance to enjoy the Mr. CJ Comedy Magic Show and performances by organizations such as the Rockola Twirlers; the Fine Arts Association; Madison Combined Martial Arts Demo Team; and the Burton Cloggers.

New features at this year's KidShow were a scavenger hunt involving 25 of the event's exhibitors and a cookie decorating station for children.

Delaney McLaughlin, who is 4 years old and lives in Painesville, decorated a cookie with help from her mother, Katie Whitwell. They were joined Delaney's brother, 1-year-old Wyatt McLaughlin, and the children's father, Chris McLaughlin.

Katie said the family was enjoying their visit to KidShow.

"We like everything they have to offer, like cookies, snacks, learning about different activities in the community that we can do with the kids," she said. "We really like to come and participate."

Perry said she started KidShow a quarter-century ago based on questions she had as someone who was the new parent of a young child.

"I kept thinking 'Hey, what do we do (as parents of a young child) for health care, for fun, for services?' And I thought, 'I think I have an event.' " Perry said.

Along with being a parent, Perry said she was, and still is, the owner of a Mentor-based company, ProMark Enterprises. which specializes in event planning and marketing.

"With the need for resources and the know-how of putting on an event, the two paired nicely to create the KidShow," she said.