First community health fair surpasses expectations
Rev. David Lefneski was thrilled to see how well the first Community Health Fair turned out on last Saturday, April 30. Many kiosks were set up on the church grounds and there were more kiosks inside the church.
The event went on from 11 to 3 p.m. and there were steady crowds throughout the day. The weather could not have been better!
Many community groups were represented. The Townshippers’ Association gave out information on its activities and it had a rock painting acitivity in its booth that was a big hit.
Vicky Duke and several other members of her Welcome Project Team handed out warm soup and talked about their involvement with new immigrants to our area. Tours of the Welcome Room downstairs were available. At the Welcome Project table and at the Women’s Institutes tables downstairs, donations were taken in for Ukrainian Relief.
The Sac a Mots bookstore had many English and French language books for free. The Centre d’action Benevole de Cowansville had a booth where many of their services were discussed. The Missisquoi County Women’s institutes, which consist of the Dunham and Fordyce branches, had a table where they could talk about the areas of community life which interest the institutes. The Maison de la Famille Cowansville Region were there. Mathieu Baker had a popcorn machine that helped to draw in crowds with the smell of the fresh popcorn.
Kathleen Winter had organized the production of a Community Healing Tapestry. Verveine, the health store, donated some teas to the event and was a participant. There was a station for the Cinq Epices Children’s Cooking project. Le Noyau Organic Seeds was a hit. The Township Grandmothers had many brochures to promote their affiliation with the Stephen Lewis Foundation. Dr. Ballivy donated spools of floss to promote dental care. Sur la Scene Davignon had a kiosk to showcase upcoming shows which will be held at Emmanuel United. Many other services in the community had leaflets available on a table inside the hall.
And then there was the music! The day opened with drumming in an intergenerational drumming circle. It continued with musical acts one after the other. Bill Nunnelly and Valerie Kerr, Blues Bette and Barry, Donald O’hara, and Coco Racicot and Linda Wand drew in crowds with their musical talents.
Judging from the interest shown on that day, the Health Fair could easily become an annual event.