Bright and early, hundreds of folks started making their way to Meeker Elementary School for the annual 9HealthFair.
It was a steady run of young adults, middle agers and our local seniors winding their way through many health stations located in the hallways, then continuing to wind their way around to the blood draws, blood pressure tests and others located in the gymnasium. Each station in the hallways offered information and the fair culminated in the gymnasium where hearing was tested, blood was drawn for a variety of tests, blood pressure was tested, etc.
When the health exams were completed, a strong majority of those taking part in the health fair made their way to the school cafeteria, where the Meeker Lions Club was taking care of those who had taken part in most of the tests.
The blood draws required a 12-hour fast on the part of the participants, and the pancakes and scrambled eggs and juices were truly welcome repasts after a long, hungry morning.
While there were several medical personnel from Pioneers Medical Center as well as hospital CEO Ken Harman present and helping out, what was most noticeable was the number of citizen volunteers who helped out with handling registrations, handling papers for some of the tests and handling the traffic, directing whoever walked in the door to find the way to where they wanted to go.
It was a great social event as folks who didn’t even come together would gather in the cafeteria and join their friends for the great breakfast. And I would strongly bet that most folks who took part in the health fair will benefit from the results of the tests they had taken. If for no reason, even for peace of mind.
The 9Health Fair was co-sponsored by Channel 9 in Denver, Rio Blanco Fire Protection District, Pioneers Medical Center and the Meeker Lions Club.
After the health fair, it was time to scurry over to Barone Middle School for the annual Meeker Easter Egg Hunt. If cooking breakfast wasn’t enough for the members of the Meeker Lions Club, the service organization was the sponsor for egg hunt.
The Easter egg hunt is likely the shortest event I have ever covered — having covered the event last year as well. The joke at the Barone site both years I have attended is that the event starts at 10 a.m. sharp and it runs until 10 a.m. and 10 seconds. It doesn’t take very long for the hundreds of kids present to scour the lawns at the school, where the eggs are scattered with areas divided for different age groups.
The children certainly enjoy the event and the parents seem nearly as excited as the kids do when the fire department blows its horn to begin the hunt.
Some of the youngest children are dressed up as Easter bunnies or fairies or in other spring-type regalia, and some of the cutest photos to be taken of the young children during any give year can be found at the Easter egg hunt.
Thanks to the Meeker Lion’s Club and to those who brought about the fire engine, which annually blows its whistle to begin the hunt. The big Easter Bunny was also on hand to talk to the children and have its picture taken with the young ones.
The event started at 10 a.m. sharp, and the Barone parking lot was mostly empty by 10:10 a.m. sharp, but in between times a couple hundred kids and their parents had a great time.
I am not a parent nor do you have to be a parent to enjoy the sight of these young children so excited by something such as an Easter egg hunt. It is something to look forward to for next year.
It seems that the fishing picture is getting brighter out my window as well.
Haven’t made it out to wet a line yet this year but the word I keep hearing is that fly fishing is pretty good in the open waters of the White River.
Spoke to one gent who spent a day downstream a bit from Meeker and in about an hour he had one white fish, one rainbow trout, a German brown and a cutthroat on his line.
I also understand that fishing is a bit slow up on Lake Avery and that as of the early part of this past weekend was not totally free of ice. A couple I heard about spent the entire day up there without a catch, so it may be that it can only get better from here on.
Haven’t heard a thing about Rio Blanco Lake between Rangely and Meeker but I can say that the lake doesn’t have any ice and that the three times in the past month that I have driven by, the fishermen and women were on the lake testing the open waters although I don’t know what their success rates were.
After all the confusion over the date for the Meeker High School Prom, it appears the dance went on, on Saturday night without any major problems.
A couple of the MHS senior girls I spoke with said they had kind of shrugged off the controversy and questions about the prom date and that they had a great time with prom being one of the best memories of their time at MHS.
Way back when, as a graduating senior at Boulder High School, prom was a big thing for us roughly 450 seniors.
Sure you think of the girls as the ones most infatuated with prom and that the guys were just pleasing their girlfriends or trying to find a girlfriend by going to the dance and festivities.
But the reality was, I believe, the guys were just as happy to have gone to prom as the girls were, and I certainly know there were a bunch of my fellow male classmates that later said they regretted not going.
Prom is indeed an important rite of passage for senior class teens, and it is a good thing that one date was finally agreed upon instead of having two different events, which almost happened.
It is even a better thing that the prom appears to have gone without any major hitches.
A big thanks goes out to the Meeker Lions Club and its members for the volunteer work the group performed this past weekend.
Not only did the club sponsor the annual Easter egg hunt and bring on Meeker Fire and Rescue as well as the Easter Bunny to the event, but the club also supplied the cooks, the servers and the food at the 9Health Fair.
Both events were held Saturday morning, and it was a rare Lion who was missing from the action at one of the two locations.
Meeker should be impressed and appreciative of the Meeker Lions Club, featured in a story elsewhere in today’s Herald Times, because this group seems to be always there when needed to help out and its members give up lots of precious time and effort to make local events just another step better than they might otherwise be.
