Health and Fitness Fair to Be Held at Brook Park Recreation Center

With warmer temperatures just around the corner, Berea City School District hopes to start a new tradition this year with its first ever Health and Fitness Fair.

The fair will be held on May 7 from 11AM to 2PM at the Brook Park Recreation Center. Brook Park Memorial PTA and Ford Intermediate PTA are organizing the event to promote fun and healthy living for local families.

“When we’ve done something similar in the past, we’ve done it at the school,” said Mike Kostyack, principal of Brook Park Memorial Elementary. “But it wasn’t as big.”

Part of the funding for the event comes from the National PTA, which allocated $2000 as a Healthy Lifestyle Grant. Andi Whittaker, president of the Brook Park Memorial Elementary PTA, was the one who applied for the grant that got the whole thing started.

“I was thinking of it like a field day, but for the whole family,” said Wittaker.

But as she spoke to more people about the idea, she realized there was a lot more interest in the fair than she expected. She decided to get other groups involved and to open up the fair to the entire school district.

The fair is now expected to attract more than 500, which is far more than initially planned.

According to Kostyack, “The whole idea of ‘healthy lifestyle’ is the theme, and just as important is getting everyone out together as a community.”

Kids can enjoy seeing a fire truck, ambulance, and even a MetroHealth Life Flight helicopter up close at the fair. Door prizes and raffle baskets will also be available.

“Once you get a helicopter coming to your event, you’re doing pretty well,” Whittaker joked.

Attendees will also be able to participate in a family fun run around the center’s track, or throw around a football with a Cleveland Gladiator. The fair will also feature soccer players, gymnasts, dancers, and fitness instructors conducting exhibitions to get kids excited about staying active.

Health and safety officials will be promoting healthy lifestyle practices, and nurses will be on hand to conduct blood pressure screenings and visions tests.

Families from Middleburg Heights, Brook Park and Berea are all welcome to attend, and there’s no entrance fee.

If all goes well, Wittaker hopes it could become a yearly event. As the event has grown in scale, it will need less of the National PTA’s grant money. With a lot of community interest in the fair, many organizations have decided to pitch in and offer donations in support.

Because it’s being hosted by the recreation center, which has a large indoor gym, the fair will be held rain or shine.

Photo Credit: Clay M. Whaley via WikiMedia Commons