RIPON – The rising cost of health care doesn’t mean that you have to go without the periodic checks that produce the early warning signs of more serious problems.

Thanks to the Ripon Community and Youth Commission residents and festival-goers at the upcoming Main Street Days downtown festival on Saturday, Oct. 17, will once again get the chance to take part in the free medical screening and health information that is being provided by a conglomerate of local medical professionals and large medical conglomerates.

A host of vendors – including the Delta Blood Bank, Hospice of San Joaquin, English Oaks Generations Health Care, Advanced Bodywork, Advanced Laser Clinic, and the Calvary Bipolar/Depression Support Group – will also be on hand to answer questions that those who turn out to the annual festival may have when it comes to their personal health.

Weather permitting, tens of thousands of people might end up taking to the streets of Downtown Ripon for the one-day festival that has become well known in regional circles for it’s massive car show and the late in the year chance to get outside and take advantage of the weather before it takes a nasty turn towards the unpredictable weather months.

“What’s great about events like this one is that there are so many organizations that are all working under the umbrella of the Chamber of Commerce,” said Chamber Executive Director Dorothy Booth. “It’s an event that brings the community together and brings people from out of town to our downtown businesses, and that’s what this is all about.”

Last year more than 125 cars entered the car show – with each receiving it’s own custom dash plaque before the official judging presented the best vehicles in each of the categories with their own trophies.

This year, Booth says, tractors will be a part of the annual show as a separate entrance group, and the first 50 cars to pay their entry fee will receive a free T-shirt and two free breakfast tickets.

The Ripon Community Library is also scheduled to have a book sale where residents can fill a green bag provided by the library full of books for only $5, and almost all of the available vendor spaces – items that become hot commodities during election years – are full to the brim.

Only 40 cars and 10 tractors have signed up for the show to date, Booth said, and entrance slips will be accepted up and until the day of the event.

The Third Annual Health Fair will take place at the Ripon Athletic Club, located at 318 W. Main Street, and runs from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 17.

For more information, contact the Chamber of Commerce at 599-7519. For more details on the Health Fair contact Roz Combly at 985-8315, or Stephanie Hobbs at 599-6861.

To contact Jason Campbell e-mail jcampbell@mantecabulletin.com, or call (209) 249-3544.