Ellington

North River Civic Center is focusing more on health this fall by hosting a North River Health and Wellness event Sept. 27 from 4-7 p.m. Sponsoring group Friends of the North River Civic Center invites all North Hamilton residents to attend the free event.

“The event is geared toward health and wellness,” said Friends board vice chair Lennie Furr, who serves as CEO of Medtech Enterprises. “We will talk about fitness attributes to a healthy lifestyle. One of the North River Civic Center’s missions is to provide health and wellness programs for the community.”

Free health screenings and activities at the event will include bone density checks by Rehab South, balance tests by Medtech Enterprises, blood pressure checks by Life Care of Hixson, carotid artery ultrasounds by Grace Clinic, chair massages by HealthSource, financial wellness education by Brad Rooks, CPA, BMI waist-to-hip ratio measurements by Memorial, spinal screenings by Hixson Spine Center, dental screenings by Dr. Tom Popp and vision screenings by Lantman Eye Care.

“We chose all of these businesses to take part because they are part of the community,” said Furr. “Local physician Dr. Jonathan Kerley from Fast Access Healthcare will talk about vital symptoms people should not ignore. We will allude to women’s health and heart attacks. The symptoms are not easily recognizable like a male’s symptoms.”

Furr said physical therapist Brent Ashley of Home Care Solutions will also talk about how physical fitness improves one’s health.

He said door prizes to be given away at the event include massage gift certificates, gift baskets, goody bags and plants.

North River Civic Center manager Linda Rugina said the center regularly has tap dancing and line dancing and will relaunch aerobics soon.

“The health event is a way to give back to the community,” said Furr, who said he stays in shape by working out three days a week, riding a bicycle on weekends and eating organic food often. “Being in the medical community, you try to help people live a healthy lifestyle. The civic center is made up of a senior population; since they give to us we want to give back to them.”