Hope is in the air for the 2021 Perry Health Fair

Given the current circumstances of the world and the situation of having to take things day by day with the presence of COVID, the city of Perry has been putting together the 2021 special events calendar with a very different perspective than ever before. First on the calendar will be the Perry Open Air Health Fair on March 6, 2021 at the new Heritage Oaks Park.

Special Events Manager Anya Turpin and her team came together and explored several different questions moving forward into the year. “We were trying to put some thought into what kinds of events can we hopefully host. What would be the most realistic? The safest? What’s on everybody’s mind?”

After weighing the options, Turpin took a page out of the “books” of several successful communities and decided that a health fair would be a great place to begin the year. “The forefront of everyone’s mind is how people can take better care of themselves,” Turpin began to explain. “Whether that’s mental health because they’re struggling with working from home or they’re struggling with not being outside as much, or maybe their physical health because they’re concerned about getting COVID, or they’re concerned about their New Year’s resolution.” Following the necessary trend of an outdoor event, an “open air” health fair began to look like the perfect solution to meet people’s needs.

Addressing the public’s concerns isn’t the only upside to having the event. Turpin also pointed out that the health fair gives the city an opportunity to work with other businesses in Perry that they don’t always get to work with since most businesses are the same when being chosen for events. “We don’t really have a lot of events where a chiropractic facility is able to reach out to us. They’re not really the perfect event for Food Truck Friday or Concert on the Lawn,” Turpin said, chuckling. The event planning committee hopes that this event can open up doors for them to showcase some of Perry’s other businesses and assets that the city has in the community as far as health care professionals go.

The health fair plays another advantageous role by being able to be hosted at the new Heritage Oaks Park that was built earlier in 2020. Turpin indicated that this would be the first major event hosted in the public park and expressed how excited she was to be able to envision the logistics.

“We’re hoping to have around 30 vendors, give or take, with various 10×10 booths set up and hopefully be able to fill that park where there’s a good number out there. And then, in addition to the vendors, we also want to have a full schedule of fitness classes—maybe some clinics or seminars that people can sit in on, and then healthy food vendors to truly encourage people to come and actually take part in things.”

However, though staying optimistic for 2021, Turpin informed the Houston Home Journal that they would make changes as needed to ensure the safety of the public and maintain the precautions of the event. Armed with hand sanitizing stations, readily available masks, and encouraging social distancing, Turpin has high hopes for the turnout.

The city of Perry has begun taking vendor applications for the event. The deadline to apply will be by the end of the month so that the events committee will be able to coordinate the logistics. As a requirement of applying, all participating vendors will have to provide a sort of door prize. In lieu of the potential 30 to 40 door prizes, the city will also be doing swag bag as an incentive for the public to attend and participate.

“We really do hope to make it something that people feel like they leave with something, or at least with knowledge that they couldn’t have obtained elsewhere. And we do want to try to keep it as family-friendly as possible with a variety of resources from pediatric and children’s health all the way up to senior care,” Turpin detailed.

The Perry Open Air Health Fair will be a free event for anyone interested in learning more about creating a healthier lifestyle. Businesses from day spas to fitness studios to dietary experts and nutrition counseling will be present to address any questions or concerns the public may have to better their health. Giving so many options, Turpin hopes that “people can make what they want of it.”

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