Local residents can learn about being healthy and fit with a community-wide fair Oct. 18.
The Flandreau Santee Sioux Tribe Health Center is hosting vendors that offer information on wellness and provide free screenings at the event from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. It will be located in the tribe’s community center gym.
It’s been a few years since the tribe has offered the health fair, and the goal is to help people be aware of the resources available locally, said Kaelob Storms, community health educator for the tribe.
This year, the focus will include colon cancer screenings and prevention, and the fair will have an inflatable colon that people can walk through and see what a polyp or a tumor looks like. Screening kits also will be available.
The cancer is more common in people over age 50, she said. “That’s why we’re really pushing to get those screenings done,” Storms said.

The event also will include door prizes and free bottles of water and T-shirts. Door prizes include a FitBit, a Yeti cup, a massage, a weighted blanket and an essential oils diffuser.
In addition, free two-minute massages will be available at the fair. Free yoga will start at the top of each hour.
The fair will include about 35 booths, including nurses from the tribal clinic and the county health nurse’s office.
The tribe and county health employees have been working together, and Storms said there have been presentations for the last few months on issues such as grief and suicide prevention and breast cancer awareness. They have done cooking classes for diabetics and provided information about head lice at school.
“It changes month to month what we’re doing,” Storms said.