Email   Print   Share By Erin Rogers, Sentinel Leisure Editor

Facebook Digg Delicious August 16, 2012 | Leisure

Representatives from the Family Advocacy Program provide information to interested Fort Hood community residents at the Hood Howdy information and job fair at Club Hood Aug. 9. Erin Rogers, Sentinel Leisure Editor

Killeen’s Poly-Mic Islanders showcase their dance moves for the guests at Hood Howdy Aug. 9 in Club Hood’s Grande Ballroom. Erin Rogers, Sentinel Leisure Editor

Constance Smith (right) talks with Cenia George, a representative from Fort Hood’s Combined Federal Campaign, Aug. 9 at the Hood Howdy information and job fair at Club Hood. Erin Rogers, Sentinel Leisure Editor

Fort Hood’s biannual information and welcome event, Hood Howdy, was held at Club Hood Aug. 9 to say hello to the new Families at the Great Place.

“We hold this fair twice every year, once in August and once in February, because of the constant inflow and outflow of Families at Fort Hood and the surrounding communities, due to the quick turnover of Army life,” said

Shirley Quick, Hood Howdy event coordinator.

Directorate of Family and Morale, Welfare and Recreation partnered with Army Community Service’s Relocation Readiness Program to bring in more than 70 agencies around Fort Hood that can be a help to incoming Families.

“In one room, we have all of the health and wellness contacts and information that Families will need to upon arrival,” Quick said. “Things like how to set up TriCare, how to establish a doctor at Darnall – all of these people can give the exact steps to take to get these things taken care of.”

The Hood Howdy information fair not only provided information for health and medical needs, but also information for entertainment of all kinds close to Fort Hood.

“These are things that Families can go and do together, without having to travel very far away,” Quick said. “BLORA is right down the street and Leisure Travel Services can set up trips for people to just about anywhere.”

Ernest Dudley, program coordinator for the entertainment part of Hood Howdy, said having some of the agencies around the installation and the surrounding community really helps showcase what Families can do together or get their children into. Students from Fort Hood’s American Shokotan Karate were showcasing their skills, and Killeen’s Polynesian-Micronesian Islanders performed a Samoan dance for the event, as well.

“People get interested just watching these groups perform, and they want to be a part of it,” Dudley said.

The boy scouts and girl scouts were also present at the event, getting children interested in being a part of their groups, as well.

“This is the ultimate newcomer’s welcome to our Great Place,” Quick said. “It’s important because sometimes being new can make you feel like just a number. Our goal is to make sure no Family feels that way, and that they have been welcomed into our community with open arms.”

Along with an abundance of information about Fort Hood and its entertainment, Hood Howdy hosted a mini career fair, put on by the Employment Readiness Program.

“What this does is provide the initial opportunity for arriving spouses to get an overview and a really good idea about the local job marketplace,” Harvey Dailey, project coordinator of the career fair, said. “It can be tough to pick up and move with your Army spouse, and thinking of finding a new job in a new place can be daunting. This brings everything together under one roof.”

The four-hour fair stayed busy with employers providing guidance to job-seekers with resumes in hand, performances from many groups around Fort Hood, information for youth and adult medical needs, information about the many things to do all over Central Texas, raffle prizes and giveaways and much more for the entire event.

“Hood Howdy will never stop being useful to Fort Hood because of all of the new Families every year,” Quick said. “It’s things like this, everyone working together to make transitions and life a little easier, that makes Fort Hood truly a Great Place.”