Alcoa Health Fair combines resources with family fun

Hundreds of Massena and area residents were exposed to a wide-ranging assortment of healthcare information Friday and Saturday at the Massena Community Center. The Alcoa company has held the health fair for several years, but this was the first time it was open to the public.

Event organizers said hundreds of people attended the fair on the first day, and hundreds more the second.

Grand prizes of an elliptical machine and treadmill were given out, and any community members attending were eligible.

Booths of information were set up by health-related organizations like the Massena Memorial Hospital and Kinney Drugs.

Bea Johnson and Benny Herne represented the Thompson Memorial Wellness Center, and Bing Thomas, a regular on CKON 97.3, gave out information on natural remedies.

Each booth had plenty of health information to provide and several also provided on the spot services, like blood pressure checks.

To make the event family-friendly, face painting was provided and food was available all weekend.

Also, Alcoa’s robot, named Al, made an appearance posing for photos and telling jokes. The aluminum mascot for Alcoa is operated by remote and his operator can also speak through a wireless microphone through him. He was a hit with children and adults alike.