Health Fair promotes wellness

The 15th annual UW-River Falls Health Fair was put on Wednesday by Student Health Services in the University Center.

Billed by Health Services members as a chance for students to improve their personal health awareness, the event consisted of 50 booths set up by businesses, clubs, and health care providers from UWRF and the surrounding area in the UC’s Riverview ballroom. Hearing screenings and HIV tests were given in the Trimbelle River room.

“The entire fair is free and open to the public,” Health Services intern and coordinator of the event Laura Krawczyk said.  Krawczyk is also a junior at UWRF.

Health Educator for Health Services Stacy Dekker said turnout for this year’s fair exceeded expectations.

“Typically we have around five to six hundred people,” she said. “This year is by far the largest crowd we’ve had.”

Total attendance for the fair was just over 800.

While attendees browsed the maze of tables and booths a demonstrations and short seminars were given on a myriad of topics including yoga, proper use of prophylactics, eating disorders and muscle relaxation techniques.  One of the more popular performances from the UWRF Glee Club had little to do with health topics.

“[The Glee Club] is new on campus and we wanted to get the word out about the club,” Krawczyk said. “They did a rendition of ‘Bad Romance’ from Lady Gaga.  They did a great job and a lot of people seemed to enjoy it.”

While taking in the musical show, students and others took advantage of hair styling from Hastings Beauty School, as well as free massages.

“I wanted a massage,” freshman Luke Anderson said. “I also came for the body composition analysis and for the toothpaste.  There was a lot more stuff than I was expecting.”

Junior Cameo Lechner echoed Anderson’s sentiment. “I just wanted to see what it was about, and it was very informative.  It had a lot more going on than I expected.  I thought the biodots were really cool.  They’re just a little dot they put on your hand that reads your temperature and tells you how stressed you are.”

As it has been for several years Greg Peters State Farm Insurance Agency and First National Bank of River Falls sponsored the event.

Ashley Wentz, a sales associate for State Farm said their office often participates in these types of events.

“Greg likes to be a big part of the community,” she said. “It’s not only for the students, but also for the entire community.  We get involved in a lot of events like this.”

First National Bank’s goal was to help students become more knowledgeable about their money, UWRF Branch Officer Angela Schoettle said.

“We’re here to talk about financial health, which ties into a person’s stress level,” she said. “We’re trying to educate students on credit; how to use a credit card in a wise manner.  We hope to help them with a little bit of everything money related.”

The fair was emceed by UWRF senior and WRFW Program Director Adam Lee. Krawczyk said Lee was a perfect fit for the job.

“I’m a DJ at WRFW, and the station approached me and offered to supply an emcee, and Adam did an absolutely great job,” she said.

Lee said he was just happy to lend a hand.

“I like to help out with a lot of events, and it’s a good cause with a lot of different groups,” he said. “ Just as a spectator I’m really impressed with the whole event.  Laura did a great job organizing everything.”