RICHMOND — The Richmond Lions Club is offering a free health fair that will be held from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. Saturday in the fellowship hall of Richmond United Methodist Church, located at 112 S. Sugar St., Richmond.

“Our health fair is open to all ages,” commented Larry Neptune, a Lions Club member who explained what providers will be there.

Neptune said club President Ken Miser, for example, will be doing vision screenings, using the club’s Welch Allyn SpotVision Screener, a hand-held device that enables efficient vision screening.

Fundraising and donations enabled the purchase of the estimated $8,000 piece of equipment five years ago. It has been used to screen schoolchildren.

In a matter of seconds the equipment can assess whether a person has farsightedness, nearsightedness, astigmatism, gaze (eye alignment measurement), anisometropia (unequal refractive power) or anisocoria (unequal pupil size). A screening is quickly done and can instantly detect vision problems. Individuals with detected problems are advised to follow up with an optometrist.

Saturday’s health fair also will include strength exercises demonstrated by Neptune and ones able to be done seated in a chair.

Literature detailing that will be provided as well so attendees can do the low-impact exercises in the comfort of their homes, according to Neptune.

The Jefferson County Health Department will be on hand to do blood pressure readings, pulse oxygen levels and BMI calculations. BMI is an acronym for body mass index, which is a measure of body fat based on height and weight that applies to adult men and women. The department also will have literature to distribute.

The Richmond Volunteer Fire and Rescue Co. will have a presence in the parking lot, offering fire and rescue equipment demonstrations.

Another facet of the health fair will be a station set up by EzFresh Meals of Wintersville, offering nutrition information and a store menu. EzFresh Meals is “a meal prep/transformation company that will help you completely change the way you think about eating ‘healthy,” according to its website.

“I wanted to have a health fair following the purchase of our sight screening device more than five years ago,” Neptune said.

“We are excited about the services this fair will provide for our community. We hope to make it an annual event,” Neptune commented.