Owen Mailloux plays at last year’s Baby Fair. This year’s fair, selling gently used toys and clothing, will take place on Saturday, April 21, from 8:30-11 a.m. at the Troy Howard Middle School in Belfast.

For the eleventh year in a row, the Troy Howard Middle  School gymnasium will be filled with an indoor sale of new and used children’s items on Saturday, April 21st, from 8:30 to 11:00 a.m. This annual event is called the Baby Fair, and the admission fee of $1 will benefit the Belfast Public Health Nursing Association to help local families in need. Children are admitted free. The Troy Howard Middle  Schooli s at 173 Lincolnville  Avenuei n Belfast.

Gently used baby and children’s clothes up to size 12, toys, books and furniture will be for sale. New items may also be available by local crafts people.

Educational booths on nutrition, identifying lead in the home and choosing and installing a child’s car seat will be beneficial for new parents and grandparents.  

 For more information, call Lois Dutch, Waldo County Healthcare Inc.’s Education Coordinator, at 930-6713.

The speech pathology department at Waldo County General Hospital has received Training Program Accreditation from the American Telemedicine Association—only the fourth institution in the United States to receive that accreditation.

But there is one big difference between the other three institutions and WCGH’s speech pathology department. WCGH is the only one that allows the therapists to work from their offices with patients in their own homes on their own computers with a $29 web cam. Read more…

The State Employee Health Commission used a revised methodology this February to determine preferred hospital status for state employees but Waldo County General Hospital remained on the preferred hospital list. Read more…

To help people who believe this is the right time for them to quit smoking, the American Cancer Society’s quit-smoking program, Freshstart, is being offered at no charge on Thursdays, April 26, and May 3, 10 and 17, from 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. in the new two-story building across the street from Waldo County General Hospital.

Freshstart is designed for the adult smoker and emphasizes that smoking cessation is a two-step process: stopping and staying stopped. Therefore, techniques and support are shared to help keep a smoker off cigarettes.

The program is free and addresses the variety of reasons people smoke: physical addiction, habit and psychological dependency.

For more information and to register for these free classes, call 930-2650 and leave your name and telephone number. A minimum of four participants are needed to hold the class.

The classes are sponsored by Healthy Waldo County and Waldo County General Hospital.

There are 79 million people in the United States who have pre-diabetes. If you are one of them or fear you might be, you should consider attending “Investing in a Future without Diabetes.”

Learn what you need to know and actions you can take to reduce your odds of developing diabetes from two Certified Diabetes Educators.

Sue Maxwell, RN, CDE, will discuss what pre-diabetes and diabetes are and the tests used to determine if you have one or the other. She will also talk about setting goals to improve your health, including developing a walking or exercise program to follow.

Phyllis Havens, MS, RD, LCSW, CDE, will discuss diet changes that can help. She will also be talking about stress management and weight loss as self-care strategies.

There will be multiple opportunities to interact, including small group sessions, a handout table and an interactive game.

“Investing in a Future without Diabetes” will be held Wednesday, May 16, from 6 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at the Waldo County General Hospital Education Center. This is a repeat of the workshop that was so well received last fall.

The presentation is free but pre-registration is requested by calling Barbara Crowley, Learning Resource Coordinator, 930-2650, or emailing her at bcrowley@wcgh.org.  

Light refreshments along with coffee and tea will be served.

It’s frightening to be told you have health failure. But you can learn skills to better manage your condition while also connecting with others who have the same condition.

Waldo County General Hospital will hold another round of “The Beat Goes On,” beginning April 26 from 1:30 p.m. to 3 p.m. The course is a series of six free classes. Read more…

Belfast Public Health Nursing Association is offering a free blood pressure clinic for the community on Tuesday, March 20, from 10 a.m. to noon. at the Belfast Public Health Nursing Association office,119 Northport Avenue,Belfast. Individuals interested in attending the clinic do not need to schedule an appointment. Walk-ins are welcome. For more information, call Shannon Robbins RN, Belfast Public Health Nurse, at 338-3368.   

Belfast Public Health Nursing Association’s mission is to promote and strengthen individual, family and community health through health education and services, prevention, early intervention, referral and collaboration within theBelfastcommunity.

Almost every day, we hear news stories about how to stay fit and live a longer, healthier life. Many of the reports are contradictory and confusing. Want to know the facts?

Registrations are now being accepted for the March 29 to May 3 session ofSeniorCollegeat theHutchinsonCenteron Route 3 inBelfast. Among the new courses being offered Thursday afternoon from 1 to 3 is Good Health 101: The Seven Dimensions of Wellness. In the course, attendees will hear proven facts about taking care of oneself from a team of professional instructors, including physicians, therapists, and social workers.

These professionals will talk about the seven dimensions of wellness–medical, nutritional, emotional, physical, social, spiritual, and cognitive–highlighting what is practical and sensible each step of the way.

The five sessions to be held at theHutchinsonCenterwill focus on:

   • medical wellness with Dr. Deb Peabody, family practice, Dr.Kent Clark, emergency medicine and Director of Medical Affairs, and Dr. David Crofoot, general surgeon, all of WCGH;

   • nutritional wellness and diet with Dr. Dennis DeSilvey, cardiologist at WCGH, and John Bagnulo, MPH and Ph.D, naturalist and nutritionist;

   • emotional wellness with Dr.Jodie Hermann, internal medicine and Director of Hospitalist Service at WCGH, and Judith Simpson, certified instructor in mindfulness based stress reduction;

   • social and spiritual wellness with Kathleen DeSilvey, geriatric pastoral care specialist, Margie Spencer-Smith, licensed clinical social worker at WCGH, and Rev. Charles Erb, retired minister, and

   • cognitive health and wellness with Dr. James Stevenson, neurologist,  and Dr. Deb Peabody, family practice and Medical Director for Waldo County Home Health and Hospice, both of WCGH. Dr. Peabody will help fit all the wellness pieces together.

The fourth session of the course, a discussion of a safe, intelligent exercise program, will be held at theWaldoCountyYMCAand will be taught by Tamara Blades, the Y’s fitness director, and Dr. Owen Nelson, orthopedic surgeon at Waldo County General Hospital (WCGH).

 To take this course, along with others being offered during the spring term, you must be a member ofSeniorCollegeand at least 50 years old. The annual membership to joinSeniorCollegeis $25. The fee for your first course per semester if $30 and $25 for each additional course.

To become a member and/or to register for a course by mail, send your check payable toSeniorCollege, along with a completed registration form to:SeniorCollege,UMaineHutchinsonCenter,80 Belmont Ave.,Belfast,ME04915. If you do not have a form, just include a note with your check indicating that it is for membership or registration or both, and give the name of the course you wish to take. Or stop by theHutchinsonCenteron Thursdays between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. to enroll at theSeniorCollegeoffice.

Registrations are accepted on a space-available basis through the first day of classes on March 29. However, some of the courses fill up quickly, so it’s best to get your registration in as soon as possible.

Looking for something fun to do that is also good for your heart? On Sunday, Feb. 25, from noon to 4 p.m., Waldo County General Hospital’s Journey to Health will host a Day of Dance 2012: A Celebration of Heart Health at the Belfast Dance Studio.

There will be four different dance classes and three heart health talks plus lots of free giveaways, including t-shirts, heart health recipes and water bottles.

The four dance classes are:

• African Fusion with live drumming led by Shana Bloomstein with Jeff Densmore on drums from noon to 12:45 p.m.

• Zumba Gold (beginner) with Judi Erickson from 1 p.m. to 1:45 p.m.

• Learn Michael Jackson’s “Beat It” dance from 2 p.m. to 2:45 p.m. with Courtney Porter from 2 p.m. to 2:45 p.m.

• Nia and Cool-Down with Anna Fiedler from 3 p.m. to 3:45 p.m.

The heart health talks are:

• “Being Well” with Cardiologist Dr. Dennis DeSilvey talking about overall heart health from 1 p.m. to 1:45 p.m.

• “Healthful Eating” with Dietitian Jenn Nelson RN from 2 p.m. to 2:45 p.m.

• “Move to the Heart Beat” with Cardiac Rahab ManagerMary HanrahanRN offering exercise tips.

For more information about the free event, call Hester Kohl, 930-2514.

Bath Salts Forum from Waldo County General Hospital on Vimeo.

Police and hospitals across Maine have reported a sharp increase in new designer drugs known by such names as bath salts and spice. This program provides answers to how the drug works, its effects and dangers. The presentations were given by drug recognition Sgt. Jim Greeley of the Waldo County Sheriff’s office and drug support group organizer Tim Woitowitz.