On Wednesday, the Summer Health and Safety Fair hit the downtown Alma streets.
The event was hosted by the MidMichigan Health Centers of Gratiot and Mt. Pleasant.
“This is our second year of running the program,” said Kelly Darten, the event coordinator. “It coincides with our ‘Bike to Better Health’ bike ride that we’ve done for 10 years. It’s important to understand how biking can help make you healthy, and using a bike helmet is just as important for your safety.”
Free food, prizes, and bike helmets were given to those in attendance.
“We want to encourage bike riders to come out and bike with us,” said Marita Hattem-Schiffman, president of MidMichigan Medical Centers in Gratiot and Mt. Pleasant. “So we get kids and parents of all ages that visit us. That’s the most important thing we do is give out free bike helmets because we want people to get back on bikes and get healthy.”
Parents and children came out for the festivities.
“I brought my grandchildren,” Susan Massaway said. “I heard there was a fair here today, so we decided to come down here and see what it was about. We’ve never been to a health fair before, but this turned out to be pretty fun. I’m very impressed.”
The event was scheduled for the late afternoon and early evening so more students could attend.
“It’s the perfect time of the year to do this,” Hattem-Schiffman said. “Kids are just getting out of school, and they’re going to be getting out and getting busy, so we want to keep them safe.”
MidMichigan Health employees volunteered their time for the event.
“I’m here to help out wherever I can,” said Elizabeth Kay, a Gratiot Center employee. “I enjoy events like this. It gets the word out to the community about being healthy and safe. I think it’s great that we can give back to the community.”
Dr. Jim Ware, an orthopedic surgeon in Alma, conducts the ride through the town during the summer.
“Jim leads us out to ride the wonderful trails that we have around here,” Darten said. “Individuals can ride with us as long as they want, turn around when they want, but the point is to get with a group of people that will inspire them to get out and get healthy.”
Some parents decided to make a day of it and stuck around for the bike ride.
“We just want to have a good time in the community,” Shannon Delgado said. “It’s a pretty nice event. This is my first time bringing my kids out to this. I’m excited that they were able to get helmets, so we can ride our bikes with them later on.”
Every Wednesday, for the rest of the summer, the bike rides will commence at 6:00 p.m. beginning behind Terry’s Cycle shop.