Calhoun County Emergency Preparedness Fair planned for June 27 in Battle Creek
Bronson Battle Creek will host a free community event featuring 26 partners and hands-on learning focused on home and emergency safety.
BATTLE CREEK, Mich. — Bronson Battle Creek is inviting the community to the inaugural Calhoun County Emergency Preparedness Fair, a free event designed to help people build practical skills to stay safe at home and in their neighborhoods.
The fair will take place on Saturday, June 27, from noon to 4 p.m. at Kellogg Community College’s Lane Thomas Building, 450 North Ave. The event will be held rain or shine. The free, family-friendly event will feature hands-on activities, safety demonstrations and community resources from 26 community organizations, all aimed at helping households prepare for severe weather, medical emergencies and other everyday safety risks.
Visitors to the fair can experience:
- Safety demonstrations and training — Learn home evacuation planning, tornado readiness, hands-only CPR, tourniquet use, fire extinguisher basics and other practical skills.
- Hands-on experiences — Explore a smoke house trailer with smoke simulation, tour an ambulance, and interact with emergency equipment and responders.
- Short educational sessions — Attend 15- to 20-minute presentations on topics such as Stop the Bleed®, fire extinguisher use, and Red Cross readiness for fires and tornadoes.
- Family activities and prizes — Enjoy children’s activities, giveaways and raffles.
- Community resources — Visit booths hosted by local organizations to learn about preparedness tools, support services and resources available across Calhoun County.
- Accessibility features — Wheelchairs, rest areas, elevators and free parking will be available. Visitors should enter the college campus from North Avenue.
Organizers say the event was created in response to recent storms and other emergencies that have affected local families and highlighted the need for practical preparedness education.
“It’s important for families to have practical ways to prepare before an emergency happens,” said Valerie Hewitt, emergency preparedness coordinator for Bronson Battle Creek Hospital. “This fair is designed to make preparedness approachable and useful for everyone, including older adults, people with disabilities and multilingual families.”
“With support from our community partners, attendees will be able to connect with local resources, build confidence and practice skills that can help them stay safe,” said Tina Guajardo, community health education supervisor of Community Health Advancement at Bronson Healthcare.
The event is open to all households. To support accessibility, an American Sign Language interpreter from Bronson Language Services will volunteer onsite, and Spanish and Burmese interpreters from VOCES and Voices for Health, Inc. also will be available. Wheelchairs are available and the event is designed with accessibility in mind. A free hot dog lunch is provided by the Salvation Army while supplies last.
For more information, visit the Calhoun County Emergency Preparedness Fair event page .
