Cabinet Peaks health fair provides education, fun
Thomas Wells gives a high-five to Dan Daub after Daub helped fit Wells with a new bicycle helmet at the Cabinet Peaks Medical Center Annual Health Fair at the Libby Memorial Events Center on Saturday. (Ben Kibbey/The Western News)
Sam Scheer helps his son, Ben, on an attempt at the climbing wall at the Cabinet Peaks Medical Center Annual Health Fair at the Libby Memorial Events Center on Saturday. (Ben Kibbey/The Western News)
Mandi Cox, a recruiter with Families in Partnership, hands some of the free items for children to Talon Nielsen and his aunt, Jen Boyd, at the Cabinet Peaks Medical Center Annual Health Fair at the Libby Memorial Events Center on Saturday. (Ben Kibbey/The Western News)
Rachel Smith (left) and Lillian Toland take a look at some of the equipment employed by Libby Volunteer Ambulance as LVA volunteer Keith McBride looks on at the Cabinet Peaks Medical Center Annual Health Fair at the Libby Memorial Events Center on Saturday. (Ben Kibbey/The Western News)
Libby Public Schools Superintendent Craig Barringer -- working the Best Beginnings Coalition table -- hands some free items to Michael Wells -- holding Claire Wells -- at the Cabinet Peaks Medical Center Annual Health Fair at the Libby Memorial Events Center on Saturday. (Ben Kibbey/The Western News)
Asbestos Resource Program Director Virginia Kocieda holds up a container with vermiculite and Libby amphibole asbestos samples during the Cabinet Peaks Medical Center Annual Health Fair at the Libby Memorial Events Center on Saturday. (Ben Kibbey/The Western News)
Cabinet Peaks Medical Center dietician Nicole Kapan gives Kim Meadows a blood sugar screening at the CPMC Annual Health Fair at the Libby Memorial Events Center on Saturday. (Ben Kibbey/The Western News)
The Cabinet Peaks Medical Center Annual Health Fair gave community members the opportunity to learn about their health, engage with interactive demonstrations and get a few freebies as well.
Lincoln County Public Health Nurse Trista Gilmore met attendees at the front doors with an opportunity to guess diseases by their description.
“They were a lot harder than people thought they were going to be,” Gilmore said. But she also noted that the older the people where who tried the game, the more diseases they knew, often because it was something they or someone they know had in the past.
Her intention was to raise awareness of how many diseases, once common, are no longer as widespread due to vaccination.
Further back in the Memorial Events Center, Nicole Kapan, a dietician at Cabinet Peaks, gave a free blood sugar screening, allowing attendees who don’t have diabetes to see if they might be at risk.
“I think a few people learned that they’re numbers were higher than they had anticipated,” she said.
Asbestos Resource Program Director Virginia Kocieda was on hand to answer questions about Libby amphibole asbestos. She had a sealed, see-through box with samples of vermiculite in its various forms, to help people understand what contamination might look like if they see it.
“We’re trying to provide information for people — if they see it — what to do, who to contact,” she said. She was also able to educate some homeowners on what they should do if they ever need to remodel and want to check if they could still have asbestos in their walls.
Kim Meadows, who recently moved to the area from Texas, said that she was surprised by how much she learned at the health fair.
“A lot of great information. I really enjoyed it today,” she said.