By Liz Beavers
lbeavers@newstribune.info
managing editor

KEYSER — The Mineral County Health Department, with the assistance of the Healthy Mineral County Coalition, will be sponsoring its first-ever free Health Fair from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, April 4, at Keyser Primary-Middle School.
Open to the community, the health fair will offer a wide variety of health-related activities, screenings, food, and displays.
“We have about 25 different agencies coming to participate,” health department administrator A.Jay Root told the coalition, noting that some of the groups are coming from as far away as Martinsburg and Charleston.
“We'll do screenings for eye, ear, blood pressure, glucose and cholesterol, among others,” he said.
Other activities include carbon monoxide testing for smokers, a chance to
tour the fire safety trailer, and a visit from Hurtle the Turtle.
“The Student Council at Keyser High School will be doing an Easter egg hunt for the little ones,” he said.
“We'll have food available, until it runs out, and hopefully it runs out rather quickly because it will mean we're busy,” Root said, smiling.
Free pedometers will also be handed out for as long as they last, thanks to the Mineral County School System, which donated the counters as well as the space to hold the fair.
Centered around the theme “Building the Foundation for a Better America,” the health fair will kick off National Public Health Week, April 6-11.
Among the participants who have signed up to take part in the health fair are: Adult Family Services, Alcoholics Anonymous, the American Cancer Society, the Anwar Eye Clinic, Life Coach C.J. Cangianelli,  Mineral County Aging and Family Services, the Coordinating Council for Independent Living, the Mineral County Sheriff's Department/DARE, Dr. Diane Romaine, the Family Crisis Center, Family Preservation Services, Girl Scouts, Keyser Volunteer Fire Department, Lifestyles Fitness Center, American Martial Arts Academy, Mountain State Psychological Services, Narcotics Anonymous, Mineral County  Pre-K/Head Start, Potomac Valley Hospital, Right from the Start, Veteran's Administration, the Wellness Council of West Virginia Smoking Cessation Program, the Women, Infants and Chilldren's Program (WIC), the West Virginia University Center for Excellence in Disabilities, and the WVU Extension Service agriculture and nutrition programs.
For more information on the Health Fair, call the health department at (304) 788-1321 or visit their website at www.mineralcountyhealthdepartment.com.