The 2004 Eucharistic Congress KidTrack will offer children in kindergarten through fifth grade an active, high-energy experience built around the theme “Wild About Christ.”

Combining several salons at the convention center into one 20,000-square-foot area, the KidTrack will be an inviting environment with a jungle flavor, decorated with vines and a 20-foot palm tree, said Cheryl DePalma, who is coordinating the track. “The host of our day will be an Australian crocodile hunter. He is looking for something Americans call ‘virtue.’ Where is he going to find it? How do you grow it? Where does it come from?”

“‘Wild About Christ’ is a high-energy, out-of-your-seat event. We are reinventing ourselves as the KidTrack,” DePalma said. “It is going to be a great event.” Children will be greeted by safari explorers and activities will include scavenger hunts, crazy crafts, skits, volleyball and some large assembly events, she said. There will be live and taped music. It will end with a procession. “God has a great plan for our kids and living with great joy is part of His plan,” DePalma said. “If we know Him and His true presence in the Eucharist, our whole life will be in line.”

Working with a core team of 10 people and about 250 volunteers, they will welcome up to 1,200 children to the KidTrack. DePalma, the mother of two children, has been a volunteer at the children’s track at previous Eucharistic Congresses, works at Pinecrest Academy, Cumming, and has organized the children’s summer camp held at Pinecrest for the past four or five years. KidTrack will be open from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., which is the time when the rest of the tracks are in progress. Early registration will take place from 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. when parents can visit the area and sign up their children. Children taking part in the KidTrack remain with their parents during the opening eucharistic procession and must be picked up by 5 p.m. before the closing Mass. Lunch will be provided in the KidTrack.