As the Malad Classic Car Show heads to town for its 34th year in Malad City, the Emergency Preparedness Fair hopes to begin its own tradition as an annual event in its own right (see info on the Car Show just inside the paper).  The Fair will be held at the Oneida County Event Center in Malad, and will feature demonstrations, presentations, booths, and other resources for those who are interested in speaking with others about emergency preparation, or sharing information about a whole range of related issues.  Some of the topics previewed by the event organizers are Self-reliance, Gardening and Foraging, Food Preservation, First Responder issues, County and State Resources, Radio Communications, and more.  Hourly prizes will be given out in conjunction with drawings during the event, as well as at each of the presentations.

Presentations will be made by an eclectic mix of presenters, with the following schedule:  10:30 am Water Purification from Connie Getz; 11:15 am “Stop the Bleed” by First Responders, 12:00 pm Faraday Cages by Allan Rosenhoover; and Automobile Preparation by Matt Johnson.

The world can often seem to be an unpredictable place, and it is in many ways.  But the fact that emergencies will arise CAN be predicted, and it’s incumbent on individuals and families to do what they can to minimize the potentially catastrophic effects of those emergencies as much as possible.  “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure” is an aphorism most people are familiar with, and it’s directly about the issue at hand.  In fact, many organizational risk managers and service directors rephrase it as “a dollar of prevention is worth thousands in response funds.”  While you cannot ensure that life never throws you a curveball, good emergency preparedness will at least give you a bat capable of hitting it, and maybe a cheat sheet of the telltale signs a pitcher has it in hand.  The metaphors collect around this issue like, well, you get the idea.

This Saturday, make a trip to or around town for some classic cars, and classic preventative thinking!