YR IN REVIEW: City of Lavonia Institutes Spring, Summer Health Initiative

In our Year in Review, the City of Lavonia turned its attention to healthy living in 2022.

In February, Lavonia Mayor Courtney Umbehant announced the planning of a series of health and wellness events.

“One of the barriers to economic development in Franklin County is that we have very poor health in the County. And you don’t have to look very far. We have a lot of smokers. I’m not a smoker but I enjoy eating. And we could all stand to be a little more healthy. Our goal is for this to be a spring and summer project that we will finish up by the fall. So, we’re going to do some events. We’re going to try to make it fun and interactive. We want to challenge everybody to participate with us to try and improve the health of our citizens.”

In April citizens were invited to join the Mayor and Council for a walk around downtown to kick off National Walking Day on April 6.

It wasn’t the big crowd he had hoped for but enough people joined Mayor Umbehant and his daughter to make it a successful first effort.  A second walk took place April 12.

Other health events included Hope Rocks in May to promote mental health, in June a beach party was held to promote getting out in the sunshine, and in July the city installed water bottle fillers in the park and downtown to promote hydration.

The health initiative series ended in September with a City health fair.