Wellness Fair a 'success'

The first Quay County Wellness Fair in four years was a success, as residents took advantage of more than 20 health screenings and more than 60 information booths, said Brenda Bishop, Quay County Extension Agent.

"There was a large variety of information from many organizations for residents to benefit from," Bishop said.

Bishop admitted there was concern public participation would wane due to the four-year gap between fairs, but Saturday's turnout quickly alleviated those concerns.

Bishop said the fair, held at the Tucumcari Convention Center, featured 22 health screenings booths including diabetic foot testing, skin, breast cancer and blood sugar.

"We want to thank the University of New Mexico's Pharmacy School along with Dr. Dan C Trigg Hospital Pharmacy for conducting these test," Bishop said.

Bishop said the New Mexico State University's Cancer Outreach Program also brought a blow-up display that you can walk through to learn about colon health.

Bishop said the information at the booths ranged in variety, including local health clinics, organizations and programs. She said first responders including law enforcement, firefighters and paramedics had displays and booths for residents.

Those services included offering car seat safety inspections by a Safer New Mexico trained officer from The Tucumcari Police Department and fingerprint identification cards for children offered by the Quay County Sheriff's Office.

"This was our pilot launch of this service," said Rusell Shafer, Quay County Sheriff.

Shafer said the program was available to children age 2 or older. He said the program included a basic information sheet including name, nicknames, identifying marks and picture of the child. The cards were laminated and a wallet-sized card was given to the parents, Shafer said.

"We let parents know that the information gathered during the event would not be stored in any way," Shafer said, "The information was being used to produce the identification card that could be used in the event the child went missing. They have the only copy."

Shafer said the wellness fair gave the office a chance to use the software for the first time. He said the Sheriff's Office plans on holding future events as well as participating in other public functions to offer this service to the public.

"We want to thank our law enforcement and first responders for being a part of our event," Bishop said