Napa County Fair Brings Back Face-To-Face Message Of Personal, Community Health – Napa Valley Register

For the numerous groups paying attention to the health of Napans individually and as a county, there is no substitute for getting their messages across, person to person.

That opportunity finally returned Sunday afternoon when more than 30 groups gathered for Napa County’s first annual Public Health Fair since 2019, after the annual gathering was twice cancelled during the coronavirus pandemic. As hundreds of visitors strolled past a succession of booths and displays at downtown Napa’s Fuller Park, members of more than 30 groups encouraged passers-by to buy produce at the farmer’s market, learn about the dangers of substance abuse, provide life-saving CPR — or even get vaccinated against COVID-19.

After nearly two years largely bereft of public gatherings, the return of the health fair has finally allowed Napans to see to a variety of needs all at once, according to organizers with the county’s Health and Human Services agency.

“We wanted to have an event where the community could come together,” said Dr. Karen Relucio, the county’s public health officer. “We want to demonstrate that we have a lot of health and social service agencies that collectively contribute to the health of our community.

“It’s also about self-sufficiency and mental health. Health is not just about the absence of COVID; it’s about everything that people need for a fulfilling and healthy life.”

Sunday’s fair was the first to be held at a city park after its move from the county health department’s south Napa headquarters, a switch the organizers said was meant to place services closer to the city center and with easier reach.

Groups taking part in the health fair ranged from Puertas Abiertas to Queen of the Valley Medical Center, ParentsCAN, the Healthy Bodies Coalition and others. In addition, more than 60 guests received primary or booster doses of one of the three COVID-19 vaccines available in the U.S., and a few received their first shots on Sunday, according to Napa County spokesperson Leah Greenbaum.

Elsewhere on the park grounds, messages of physical and mental well-being were by turns serious and playful.

Albert Cano of Sonoma dropped by the table hosted by Napa County’s Alcohol and Drug Services division and pulled on a darkened pair of “drunk goggles” that re-create the experience of being intoxicated with a blood alcohol percentage of 0.25, more than three times the legal driving limit. Nearby, two pairs of colored markers lined a curving course just 10 feet long — but Cano wobbled unsteadily, clumsily stepping out of line twice on the brief path.

“It was very difficult — no balance, not real control of where you’re going,” he admitted as he pulled off the visor and shook off his synthetic impairment.

At a booth a few feet away, Mona Leonardi chatted with fair-goers next to a photo montage of young men and women who had lost their lives to the drug fentanyl. One of the few dozen pictures was of Mona’s son Michael Leonardi, who was a 20-year-old college student in San Diego when he died in February 2020 after swallowing what he thought was a Percocet pill, purchased from a dealer off Snapchat.

This was the stark message of the Michael Leonardi Foundation, which his parents founded six months after their son’s death to raise awareness about fentanyl’s dangers, especially when the opioid is disguised as other drugs.

Though the foundation is reaching out to local youth and parents both at in-person forums and in Zoom video calls, the chance to share the foundation’s message in person has been invaluable, said Mona Leonardi.

“It’s pretty big,” she said. “Our mission is to get the message out about fentanyl and fake prescription drugs, and it’s much easier face-to-face because people will stop and talk, and you can engage them in conversation.”

Elsewhere at Sunday’s health fair, however, the tone was far more playful — and focused as much on healthy living as avoiding the pitfalls of disease and addiction.

At the Napa Farmers market booth, volunteer Heather Bailie caught the eye of visitors in her enormous green costume of peas in a pod, stem and all. Minutes later, she joined eight other women in a round of vigorous, blood-pumping Zumba dancing, a dollop of physical fitness set to a soundtrack of pop songs blasting from a public-address speaker.

Fair organizers emphasized their attention to the whole picture of health, and not just the absence of disease — as well as the ability for residents to comfortably ask for advice.

“The goal was to get everyone together safely because we haven’t had the ability to get together,” said Patricia Martinez, a county health education specialist and the health fair’s director. “Having in-person interaction can be life-changing; on the internet who can read about something, but you don’t get the nuances.”

Napa County’s fair coincided with National Public Health Week, an annual event in the first week of April that focuses on helping the public to lead healthier and longer lives.