It seems almost impossible that we are once again gearing up for another YMCA Health Fair. This will be our eighth annual blood cholesterol screening and it will be held from 7:30 to 10 a.m. Saturday, March 7 at the Auburn YMCA-WEIU. This event is free and open to the public due to the generosity of Senator Michael Nozzolio, the Auburn Memorial Hospital Laboratory and The Citizen.

If you are planning on having the blood cholesterol screening, be sure to fast for 12 hours before receiving the test. Everyone is welcome to this event and hopefully it will be of benefit to a wide variety of people.

Anyone who comes to the Health Fair will be eligible to sign up for a drawing for a free one-year adult membership to the Auburn YMCA. In addition there will be other door prizes for YMCA logo wear and some massage treatments.

Balloon#'s Restaurant has also donated gift certificates for dinner. These will be included in the door prizes.

There will also be a variety of other vendors and health experts to answer your questions. COAST Physical Therapy will be answering questions about everyday aches and pains or any particular muscle or orthopedic problem. COAST will also have a massage therapist on hand for quick chair massages.

Victory Sports Medicine will be there with information on knee or hip replacements, sports injuries or any other orthopedic issues.

Dr. Tony Di Rubbo will be bringing some of his medical students from Upstate University Hospital to check blood pressure.

There will be lots of informational tables at the Health Fair as well. Areas of interest will include facial care, essential oils, audio and hearing aids, Auburn Memorial Hospital, Cayuga County Health Department, women#'s health and gynecological care, to name a few. The Auburn Police Department will also be there to promote child safety. Remember, anyone of any age is welcome to come to the Health Fair. We encourage you to take advantage of this opportunity for a free blood cholesterol screening. Hope to see you there..

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This week we will be beginning our fitness challenge to help celebrate our 150th anniversary.

Beginning today, all participants will sign up and record all of their times that they exercise. The goal is to achieve 150 minutes of exercise each week for 150 days.

The program will run until July 29. It may sound daunting but if you exercise in any way for 30 minutes, five times a week, you can achieve the goal for that week. The fitness office office will track each participant and everyone who signs up will receive a 150th anniversary T-shirt.

Look for more celebrations commemorating our 150th anniversary in the future.

Hansinger is the assistant fitness director at the Auburn YMCA-WEIU