Sunflower Kiwanis Club sponsors 'Boo to the Flu' event

What can scare ninja warriors, zombies and vampires? Just try waving a hypodermic needle at them.

Sunflower Kiwanis Club sponsored a “Boo to the Flu” event Monday night during the Pittsburg Family YMCA Halloween carnival.

Janis Goedeke of the Crawford County Health Department and two nurses were present to administer free flu shots to children. Sunflower Kiwanis members assisted with registration and consent forms, and also provided beverages and treats for the youngsters.

A special guest for the event, who happily posed for photos with the children, was BeeWise Immunize.

“Janis told me she was going to bring a special guest,” noted Dean Cortes, club member.

“BeeWise came all the way from Wichita, or at least the outfit did,” Goedeke said. “It’s from the Kansas Department of Health and Environment.”

“We’ve been doing ‘Boo to the Flu’ for five or six years,” Cortes said. “One year we didn’t do it because they didn’t have enough vaccine. Last year we gave out 80-plus flu shots, and we’d like to do more this year.”

Goedeke said it’s important to immunize youngsters because the very young and senior citizens are those most at risk from flu.

“Any time we get a chance to get youngsters in, we take it, and Kiwanis has been a great partner with us,” Goedeke said. “We mix a little health and a little fun.”

For some children it wasn’t much fun, and there were screams and tears from several. Others, like Kaylan Hall, didn’t even flinch from the needle.

“You need to get the youngsters prepared and tell them what to expect,” said Brenda Robertson, Hall’s great-aunt. “I took my grandbabies in, and somebody said ‘We’ll need to have somebody to hold them down,’ and I said, ‘No, you will not,’ and there wasn’t one tear from them. Even my 3-year-old grandchild didn’t cry.”