This will take place Sunday, December 17, 2006 3:00 to 5:00 p.m at Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial Hospital, 23845 McBean Parkway, Valencia, CA 91355

The triumvirate of family togetherness, nutritious food and regular exercise promotes healthy individuals and a healthy society, overall.  However, during this festive season, families tend to engage in even unhealthier habits than usual. Congregation Beth Shalom and Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial Hospital jointly present a Hanukkah Health Fair on Sunday, December 17, 2006, from 3:00 to 5:00 p.m. to reinforce the twin messages that: (1) holiday health and fitness equal fun—not drudgery—and (2) family time promotes better physical and emotional health in the SCV.

Join us in the hospital’s parking lot adjacent to McBean Parkway and Avenida Navarre for a fun and educational afternoon filled with Israeli Dancing, Hanukkah-robics, a “Big as a Maccabee” fitness assessment, a “Latke Lite” healthy cooking demonstration, comedy improv and “Hanukkah Ha-Ha’s” (laughter, after all, is the best medicine!), health screenings and information, including blood pressure screenings, breast cancer awareness and organ donor information, information about parenting and healthy families and dental health, face painting and crafts, and a visit from an LAFD fire engine and ambulance and a Sheriff’s Department patrol car. The event will culminate with the lighting of the third candle on the Hanukkah menorah and a sing-along with the CBS Children’s Choir.

Guests who come to the Congregation Beth Shalom/Henry Mayo Hanukkah Health Fair are encouraged to participate in CBS’s Holiday Food Drive to benefit the Santa Clarita Food Pantry. Please bring non-perishable food items to advance the well-being of our less fortunate neighbors this holiday season.

“We are pleased to partner with Congregation Beth Shalom this year to offer a Hanukkah Health Fair for the Santa Clarita Valley,” said Andie Bogdan, Henry Mayo’s Director of Planning, Marketing and PR. “There is the pervasive notion that only overindulgence equates with a happy holiday season. A paradigm shift in this type of thinking has the potential to benefit SCV residents of all ages for the rest of their lives. And, by striking a blow to today’s epidemic of obesity, such a change can indeed benefit our community.”

“The holiday season is a time to promote tradition and togetherness,” said Rabbi Steve Conn of Congregation Beth Shalom. “We are thrilled to be working with our friends at Henry Mayo Hospital to craft a creative and health-oriented Hanukkah event that will be fun, festive and healthful for the whole community.”

The Hanukkah Health Fair is open to all members of the community. For more information call Congregation Beth Shalom at (661) 254-2411 or Henry Mayo Newhall Memorial Hospital at (661) 253-8060.