One of the highlights at the Lehighton School District Health & Wellness Fair was the presence of Maggie, a trained and certified therapy dog.

“Maggie is a 14½-year-old English Springer Spaniel,” said Kathy Dimmich of Orefield, Maggie’s handler. “She was 15 months old when she passed her test and started work as a therapy dog.”

Dimmich said she knew Maggie was destined to be a therapy dog at a very early age.

“When she was 4 months old, she went to Luther Crest, because my aunt was there for skilled nursing care. At 4 months old, she walked in, she was perfect with everybody, she climbed into the bed with her, and that was it. We knew she would be a therapy dog.”

Maggie spent 9½ years at KidsPeace and has been to every kind of facility imaginable. Maggie is hard of hearing now, but still loves people.

“There is a difference between Emotional support dogs, service dogs, and therapy dogs,” Dimmich explained. “They all have very distinct regulations. Emotional support and service dogs usually serve one person; whereas, a therapy dog is meant to be petted and shared with everyone.”

Therapy dogs must be at least 1 year old before they can be tested. Any dog can become a therapy dog, whether it has a pedigree or not. There are a number of tests the dog must go through to be certified as a therapy dog. Some of the testing includes being able to be petted anywhere on their bodies, how they get along with other dogs, whether they get along with children and adults.

“She loves kids, she loves everybody,” Dimmich said.

The Lehighton Area School District hosted a Health & Wellness Fair on Saturday at the Lehighton Elementary Center. The Fair offered a variety of vendors, organizations, and workshops focusing on physical and emotional health for children and adults.

Representatives from the Lehighton Police, Pennsylvania State Police, Carbon County Sheriff’s Office, Mahoning Valley Volunteer Fire Company, Lehighton Ambulance, Lehighton Fire Dept, and Parryville Fire Company had their emergency vehicles on display outside the main entrance.

Pennsylvania State Police held car seat safety checks.

Lehigh Valley Health Network was offering free blood pressure screenings and information on stroke symptoms and how to prevent them.

Erin Conahan, Registered Nurse, explained that stroke can affect young people, too.

“We have noticed in the past five years that stroke patients are getting younger, even as young as 30 or 40 years old,” Conahan explained.

St. Luke’s Trauma Program coordinators for Carbon and Bucks Counties were giving information on how to prevent injury and giving away free car seats and bike helmets.

Other businesses and organizations at the fair included the American Red Cross, the Nutrition Group, Within Harmony, Lehighton Walmart’s Vision Center. They offered brochures, information packets, and promotional products and samples.

Several workshops were offered to the public. David Miller of Within Harmony, Lehighton, offered a program on EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique) Tapping.

“By applying temporary pressure to an area of the body; whether that’s your hand, your face, it would relieve stress and anxiety, and work with the chemicals in your brain, and de-escalate all that in a very quick period of time,” Miller explained.

Other workshops were offered on the effects of vaping, a self-defense workshop, Singing Bowls, and a sample Zumba class.