Tenth Annual Health & Safety Fair Promises To Be Bigger And Better Than Ever

The tenth annual Newtown Public Health and Safety Fair will be held on Saturday, October 4, from 10 am to 2 pm, in the Newtown Middle School on Queen Street.

One of the major objects of the fair (which was originally started by Mae Schmidle, Dr Della Schmidt, and then-Public Health Director Mark Cooper) was to present to the community many new and many tried and true health services and screenings at absolutely no cost — everything was always free. As a community service, the fair brought to Newtown some new and exciting information about health care, lifesaving public safety measures, and an opportunity to talk to various health professionals on a one-to-one basis with no appointment and no fee.

Just about every community and service organization in town supports and participates in the fair, which has traditionally been held in the middle school gym. Among them have been the Women’s Club, the Lions, the Rotary, the Chamber of Commerce, Newtown Business and Professional Women’s Club, the Newtown Visiting Nurses, Danbury Hospital, Dr Henry Gellert, Dr Tom Draper, the Bethel Visiting Nurses, St Rose Parish Nurses and Advisory Committee, Dr Della Schmidt and Colonial Chiropractic, Dr Notaro, Interfaith AIDS, The Homesteads, Danbury Visiting Nurses, The Newtown Bee, Newtown Fire Companies, Newtown Police Department, Dr Charles Ray, the Red Cross, Family Counseling ,and the Newtown Health District just to mention a few.

When the Health Fair started cholesterol screening, it was a new test but now it is a staple for health-conscious people. The fair also includes blood pressure screening, glucose testing, fat measurements, Lions with their eye screening and the Visiting Nurses making major contributions in teaching health awareness and care techniques. The ambulance corps and various fire departments provide instruction in various fire and safety measures, and the Life Star Helicopter often comes and makes a major contribution to the health fair.

As part of the tenth anniversary celebration, some exciting new features will be added to the health fair. One major new feature will be the Pumpkin Walk. To encourage more people to participate in some good and easy exercise, people — young and old — are invited to sign up for an invigorating two-mile walk on a safe course in the middle of town near the middle school. After filling out an application, walkers will receive a sun visor and identification and guided on their way around the course. There will be a small fee for participating, which will be donated to a local charity, and a gift and refreshments for everyone who participates.

Another new feature this year will be hearing testing — a large mobile piece of hearing testing equipment will be brought to the fair and hearing testing will be available to all the participants. There will also be a poster contest for young people who will be asked to illustrate their favorite health habit. This year the contest is being expanded to sixth graders as well and a committee of famous artists will be the judges. Once again, the favorite dirt bike drawing under the sponsorship of the Chamber of Commerce will be featured. Any winner not into mountain biking will receive a prize of comparable value.

Among the groups that will have booths and be participating this year will be Aqua Environmental, Ashlar, Colonial Chiropractic Care, Family Counseling Center, St Rose Parish, Connecticut Tick Control, Children’s Adventure Center, Leary Therapeutic Massage, Newtown Foot Care Group, Greater Danbury Lyme Disease Task Force, Alzheimer’s Association, The Homesteads, Smart Cycling, American Red Cross, Newtown Health District, Bethel VNA, Newtown VNA, Newtown Lions Club, Newtown Health District, Newtown Woman’s Club, Newtown Chamber of Commerce, Danbury Hospital, Danbury Visiting Nurses, Newtown Fire Companies, Sandy Hook Fire Companies, Newtown Police, DARE, Newtown Volunteer Ambulance Corps, Newtown Youth Services and always a major attraction is the Paproski Castle Hill Farm with their wonderful prize winning bovines and their offspring, and Marcus Dairy.

The Newtown Health and Public Safety Fair will be held rain or shine.