The annual back-to-school health fair at the First United Methodist Church drew a crowd, as usual, and sent everyone home with an armload of freebies and a head full of new health information.

High on the goodies list was the table filled with free backpacks from Hill Country Memorial Hospital. The best part was the children got to pick their favorite color before making the rounds to fill ‘em up with toothbrushes and toothpaste, and with gift cards from Office Depot and Payless Shoes..

They also filled their heads, like discovering the difference between washing hands with soap and with only water. Baylor Scott & White Hospital had a…um…hands-on demonstration for that.

The Johnson City and Dripping Springs Lions Clubs offered free vision screening — a good thing, because they found seven children who needed a visit to an optometrist to be checked for glasses.

The big hit probably was the free lunch (thank you, Lowe’s Market), with cookies for dessert. And yes, they did do seconds.