Local foods are focus at 36th annual event hosted by Cary
CARIBOU, Maine — Cary Medical Center’s annual Health Fair will be held on Saturday, Sept. 24, 2016 at the Caribou Wellness and Recreation Center on Bennett Drive. The theme of this year’s event will be “Growing Healthy Communities.”
The health fair will run from 9 a.m.-1 p.m. and will feature a number of unique exhibits, including a focus on healthy local foods, and will feature traditional free flu shots, cholesterol and various other health screenings. Bethany Zell, event coordinator, said having the fair earlier in the fall and adding new exhibitors should draw additional participants.
“Cary’s Health Fair has become a real tradition in The County,” said Zell, director of Cary’s Healthy You program. “Thousands of people have attended the event over the past 36 years, and each year we try to add something a little different.”
Zell will work with local farmers to feature a display of locally grown produce. There will also be samples of local foods. Bill Flagg, director of community relations and development at Cary Medical Center, said the emphasis on local foods has been an ongoing project over the past year.
“We really have been trying to highlight the multiple and various types of crops that are now grown in The County,” said Flagg, who is an ambassador with the ‘Healthy Foods in Health Care’ program.
“We are so blessed to live in a region with such abundance and we have been trying to bring more attention to local growers,” he said. “We hope to have a wonderful display of foods and I hope that some of the farmers will participate so that visitors to the fair will have a chance to learn more about their work.”
Over the years the Cary Health Fair has offered many different health screenings in addition to multiple agency exhibits. Flagg said he is grateful to the health professionals and organizations who have attended the event over the years.
“It is hard to believe that we have been doing the health fair for over 35 years,” said Flagg, who started the event with the help of the Cary Auxiliary in 1981. “Many of our health professionals and organizations have attended the fair every year and this has been a great benefit to area residents. We hold the event on a Saturday so we recognize this is extra effort for staff and we much appreciate their support.”
The health fair is free and open to all area communities. For more information contact Cary’s public relations office at 498-1112.
