Dear Editor,

On June 7th, the Family Support Network of Oak Valley Hospital District held its 12th Annual Family Fun Day and Health Fair. Once again, we had a wonderful turnout of friends, family, adults, and children who enjoyed an afternoon filled with health information, health screenings, prize giveaways, crafts and entertainment — all at no cost.
We would like to extend heartfelt THANKS to all of the volunteers and agencies who participated and made the day a great success. We had representatives there from our Oakdale City Fire Department, Oakdale Police Department, CAPS, Stanislaus County Sheriffs Dept., Oak Valley Hospital Ambulance, Lion’s Club EyeMobile, Oak Valley Hospital Clinics, Lab, Diabetes Education, the WET Water Exercise Program and Nutritional Services with the infamous ‘fruit satellites!’ In addition, we had representatives from Health Net, Health Plan of San Joaquin, Escalon Masonic Lodge, DMC Foundation, American Red Cross, Bystrom Chiropractic of Escalon, Autism Speaks, SCOE, and First Dental. All of these agencies provided information on their services and vital information to provide safety and health tips to the attendees.
We were entertained by KHOP 95.1 and the expertise of DJ MoJo, a crowd favorite, returning for his third year, and saying he’s ready for next year too! He helped us give away over 40 prizes, ranging from CD players, to Super Soaker and four bicycles. All of these prizes were made possible by the generosity of donations from local service clubs and individuals.
We conducted a brief survey to see ‘who’ comes to our event and ‘what’ they like best. What we found out is the 80 percent of those in attendance live in Oakdale and what they enjoyed most was the friendly, family atmosphere, the health info and screenings and of course, all the FREE stuff! To us, that shows we achieved our goal — to provide an afternoon to our local community that offered health information, kid’s activities, entertainment and prizes — all at no cost to the families.
As always — a special THANK YOU to Marg and the Oakdale Leader who never fail to show up and take great pictures and write a wonderful story that captures the essence of the day and highlights our event. We appreciate that more than you know.
Thank you to all of the church groups, youth groups, families and friends who lovingly put their hands to work to make this event successful and fun. We look forward to working together next year — the first Sunday in June, which will be June 6, 2010! See you then!

Most Sincerely,
Karen O’Bannon, Director
Family Support Network