A new health and wellness fair hosted by the Town of Ponoka appears to have hit the ground running.
The event was held Wednesday, May 18 and organized by Wes Amendt, director of community services for the Town of Ponoka. He has been working on the idea of a Community Wellness Fair for some time now and found strong interest in many of the community associations, and some business, that promote the idea of health and wellness.
“It’s part of our Communities Choose Well initiative,” said Amendt, referring to a program under the Alberta Recreation and Parks Association.
He said there were 25 groups and businesses that filled the Kinsmen Community Centre, where the fair was held. Among the many groups were those focused on children’s learning, Citizens on Patrol, Family and Community Support Services, physiotherapy and businesses such as a travel agency.
“From what I’m hearing from the groups that have signed up, they’re happy and excited to have an opportunity to promote health and wellness in general,” said Amendt.
Seeing the strong response, Amendt said he hopes to have a look at what else can be done to improve the fair. Either to bring formal speakers as an educational session or to create it more as a trade show setup.
At this fair there were two speakers, Trish Bowie of the Complete Wellness Centre and Candace Sayler, a fitness trainer at Burman University in Lacombe.
Amendt has received interest from the City of Lacombe on the fair as well.