Keeping warm, staying active, and having fun!

SMELTERVILLE — Reported on by the News-Press earlier this year, Shoshone County ranked second to last among Idaho counties in overall health.

In order to improve this rating, it makes sense to educate our youth on the importance of keeping active.

Shoshone Medical Center (SMC), accompanied by many vendors, built an exciting construction themed event last weekend geared toward health education and fun to do just that.

The “Building Healthy Bodies” fair for kids saw its biggest turnout ever, providing a warm coat for over 300 local children just days before cold weather hit.

Upon arriving, children were given a hard hat, a backpack, and a passport.

The backpack was necessary to hold all of the prizes and goodies they would receive while visiting the different vendor booths that surrounded the SMC Wellness Center’s Outdoor Fitness Park in Smelterville.

At each booth, the participants passports were marked with a sticker and then filled passports were turned in at the last booth to be entered into a drawing for great prizes.

Judging by conversations among groups of children, it was clear that the most exciting bit of this activity was the chance to win a new bike.

Fun games, a walking talking t-rex, a bouncy house, and an obstacle course were just a few of the other things that would be encountered while walking through the vendor booths.

Attendants also had the opportunity to check out an ambulance, a fire engine, and the bookmobile.

Once they had been through all of the booths, children were able to pick out a warm winter coat to take home with them.

There were many children who did not find their size, but the hospital plans to make sure their needs are still met and they will ensure that they receive a coat at a later date.

With 305 children plus their families attending this year’s kid’s health fair, compared to last year’s 175, the hospital would like to send out a huge thank you to all of the sponsors that made the event such a success.

Speaking to the sponsors, SMC Marketing & Business Development Manager Lisa Turpin said, “YOU (the sponsors) enabled Shoshone Medical Center to hand out free winter coats, hats, gloves, backpacks, education, resources, toys, lunch and snacks to many Silver Valley families in need.”

As those kids return to school on a rainy Monday morning, it’s comforting to know they are bundled up in the warm coats they just received.