Plains school hosts annual health fair

The annual Health Fair was hosted by Plains School on Saturday. This was the first year it was held at the school, in the new gymnasium. Dr. Barbara Steward from Clark Fork Valley Hospital gave the opening speech and did a ceremonial ribbon cutting. A variety of health aspects were presented by various groups and businesses from the Plains area.

While most were from CFVH, several were not. Warrior Fitness owner Becky Fields and her son, Maverick, had exercise challenges for free prizes. Situps, plank position or wall sits were rewarded with a free day pass or designer water bottle. Fields' new gym offers unlimited classes with monthly membership, a full service workout area and a tanning bed. Warrior Fitness is located at 100 Lynch Street in Plains.

MT West Dentist had drawings for Waterpiks and handed out sample bags of dental health care products. They are accepting new patients.

Plains Drug and Thompson Falls Family Pharmacy were represented by Kayla Holmes, pharmacy technician, and Ashley Holmes, pharmacist. "It is cool to see the community come together for a good cause," Kayla said. The pharmacy in Plains Drug store offers A1C and cholesterol tests by appointment and audiology tests, as well as flu and RSV shots.

The TOPS weight management group is a non-profit non-commercial program. They provided information on their meeting times and program. "TOPS has been around for 75 years," according to Plains advocate Linda Bursell. She said that Weight Watchers modeled their program after TOPS, then went commercial. The Plains chapter started in 1968, she said.

Plains Ambulance was represented by Jen Fratzke and Una Stowers, with information on AAA, CPR and First Aid classes along with EMT training and lifeguard training for the pool this summer. They had updates on their partnership with the city of Plains and Carla Kinzie who will be managing the pool. It is slated to open on June 10. Discussions are in progress with Thompson Falls regarding the training of lifeguards and opening the pool there as well.

Camp Bighorn handed out information on their summer camps for families and kids of all ages. Their camps begin in June with junior camps for fifth and sixth grade students. Family camps and High School Wilderness Expedition are in July.

Plains Woman's Club presented their upcoming events of a rummage sale on April 6 at the Plains VFW and a Cornhole Tournament on May 19. They will be celebrating 100 years in Plains in October, Jamie Schmidt said.

Other health benefits displayed at the fair included massage therapy by Jill Hermes. She offers a variety of massage techniques to suit individual needs.

CFVH had representatives from several departments. Nutrition services with Carol Dykstra explained how locally grown microgreens from Kassy Moore and vegetables from Waterway CSA produce are used in the hospital's kitchen. Physical therapy rehab with Connor Gillig, Brandon Fowler, Julie Glase and Laurie Endres, did balance and strength testing that included grip testing of hand strength and sports injury prevention tests. Matt Bishop from radiology gave out information on preventative scans, such as mammograms. Bishop said he wants to focus on promoting careers in the medical field that will bring high school students into the hospital before and after graduation and college. "I want to show them the degrees they can return home to Plains with," Bishop said.

The long term care facility raffled baskets with health care products. Nikki Stevens, Long Term Care manager, said it had been a good day with lots of people. Community Health Improvement specialist Dwy Simpson said April is Children's Abuse Prevention month. Tasha Steffens, the CFVH social worker, said she is offering "strong people, strong bodies" low impact weight training. The CFVH laboratory did blood type testing. Robbi Gascon who manages the cardiopulmonary department covered anything related to heart and lung rehabilitation programs including inhaler and asthma education and respiratory therapy. She answered questions and handed out pamphlets.

The Plains Parent Teachers Association with Erika Lawyer, Karrie Lulack and Sharon Niemi, had information on the 2024 school levy proposal. The organization is looking for members and has other plans for the school community. "We want to bring in a speaker for the students to talk about the issues related to mental health," Lawyer said.

"We had over 100 people show up according to the amount of raffle tickets that were filled out," said Plains Superintendent Dr. Kathleen Walsh. "All raffles were free. There were great donations from the dental office. It was a very nice day."