Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Health Alliance gears up for Children's Week

Childrens Week will be April 3-7 this year, with plenty of activities for children to keep them busy.

Lynn Johnson spoke on this at the monthly meeting of the Prescott-Nevada County Health Alliance, Friday, Feb. 10.

She said the T-shirts this year will be a California blue with different printing. Johnson added Childrens Week will pretty much follow the same format it has in the past.

Phil McAdams will once again get the fire house for the event. This is a house which is filled with non-toxic smoke and helps teach children how to escape from a burning building. Its one of the favorite activities each year during Childrens Week.

The Science Fair will be held Wednesday of Childrens Week, while Library Day for the children will be April 6. It was decided to have the children rotate from station to station at the library to avoid a bottleneck. Library Day will be from 9-11 a.m., with four 30-minute sessions.

Attempts will be made, Johnson said, to get the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission (AG&FC) to bring back its traveling aquarium, another favorite.

Edie Greenwood, with the Nevada County Health Unit, said Correctcare is sending the NCHU 200 clear plastic backpacks. These, she told the group, can be filled with goodies and given to the children.

The childrens parade will be held the Friday of Childrens Week, Johnson said. This year the Prescott High School band is to perform, along with the Emmet cheerleaders.

Tina Blevins updated the PNCHA members on the tobacco grant. She has surveyed all restaurants in the county to find out which are smoking and which are entirely non-smoking businesses. Of the 15 restaurants in the county, nine, she said, are smoke free.

She is now working on a survey for retail merchants. She said clerks are given no training in how to sell tobacco products. Blevins is working to set up a training session in May for tobacco retailers to correct this situation.

Greenwood talked about the prostate cancer grant the PNCHA applied for. Last year, she said, the PNCHA was the lead agency in getting the prostate van to come to the annual Health-A-Rama. However, those who operate the van would rather not be at the Health-A-Rama and want to bring the van back earlier. This year, the Nevada County Cancer Association is the lead agency for the van.

According to Greenwood, the van will be at the First United Methodist Church parking lot from 4-7 p.m. on May 12. Men, she said, need to show up and get tested. This will be both the PSA and digital rectal exam again. The testing is free to those who want it.

Greenwood said this years targets are minorities over the age of 40 and Caucasian men 50 and older. Once again, she added, this is the Mayors Campaign, with all mayors in the county to be contacted about participating.

The grant is for about $1,500, she said, and will be used to purchase educational materials.

Lori Arnette, PNCHA vice president, updated the group on the health assessment done Friday, Feb. 3, at the Grandview Prairie lodge. She said it was informative but hard to understand in some area, especially for those not in public health.

The community as a whole needs to know more about it, she said. Its all integrated.

Mary Alice Blevins talked about a diabetes session held recently at the two nursing homes in Prescott. She said the turnout was low, with only 11 attending the two sessions, but those who did show up were there to learn.

More than half, she said, had diabetes and wanted to talk about their health.

The next session will be held Thursday, March 2. This will be a six-hour event, going from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. A total of 25 people can attend and it is open to the public. She said anyone interested in attending needs to contact Mary Godwin, director of the Prescott-Nevada County Chamber of Commerce.

Greenwood took the floor again, talking about the Active for Life program. She said there are 25 teams with 179 people participating. The grant for the kickoff campaign hasnt come in yet, she told the group, but will. Some of the funds will be used to buy prizes for participants.

Joyce Gibson, librarian and PNCHA co-president, and Greenwood discussed a SAMHSA grant for $1,000. This grant would target underage drinking, focusing on fifth and sixth grade students.

The PNCHA will work with Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD), with the older students working with the younger children on the drinking issue.

Greenwood said the PNCHA got a Prevention Resource Grant in the amount of $1,500. This money will be used for a retreat to review the stats on needs assessments and see what health areas the organization needs to focus on.

Tina Blevins and Arnette were named co-chairs for this years Health-A-Rama, which will be held Sept. 16.

Greenwood said there is a problem as the Nevada County Fair Association has set fair dates for this year to run from Sept. 16-24. But, she added, this should pose no problem for the Health-A-Rama as it should be done well before the fair begins.