Strong Area Health & Dental Center to host 5th annual Pierpole Day 5K

STRONG – Strong’s annual Pierpole Day celebration will take place on Saturday, July 11, 2026. As a part of the celebration, the Strong Area Health & Dental Center will host their 5th annual 5K fun-run event. Don’t miss this family-friendly community event!

The event course will start and end at the Strong Area Health & Dental Center, 177 North Maine Street, in Strong. The event will begin at 9:00 AM. Those who plan to register on the day of the event should arrive at 8:30 AM. In lieu of a registration fee, please bring a donation of a non-perishable food item for the community pantry. The first 50 online pre-registrants will receive a free 2026 Pierpole Day 5K T-shirt!

Please visit the following RunReg page to pre-register and help our planning committee prepare — https://www.runreg.com/strong-area-health-center-5k

Pierpole Day is an annual event celebrating local Strong heritage and history. The day is named after the Wabanaki (Abenaki/Amaseconti) settler Pierre “Pierpole” Paul. Paul and his wife, Hannah Susup, came to the Strong area in the late 1700s to settle in what was known at the time as Middletown. We appreciate the opportunity to connect with our Strong Community each year at Strong Area Health & Dental Center’s Pierpole Day 5K, and we look forward to seeing you there!

Founded in 1986, Strong Area Health Center is a part of HealthReach Community Health Centers — headquartered in Waterville, Maine. HealthReach is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit operating 11 family medical practices and 1 school-based health center with the mission of serving the otherwise medically underserved. HealthReach delivers high-quality, accessible healthcare services, including general primary and preventative healthcare, behavioral healthcare, substance use disorder treatment, dental, and podiatric care services. To ensure access for everyone, HealthReach accepts Medicare, MaineCare, and major insurance providers, and there are no eligibility requirements to access care through HealthReach; all are welcome. An Affordable Care Program is available to both uninsured and underinsured people. Assistance is available for applications to programs that help with your healthcare and medication costs, including enrollment support for Maine’s Health Insurance Marketplace.

The above is issued in furtherance of HealthReach Community Health Centers’ federally funded health center project. In 2025, HealthReach received $4,436,654 in federal assistance, which is estimated as constituting 12% of project costs. Of total project costs for 2025, 88% was financed with non-governmental sources.

The contents above are those of the author, and do not necessarily represent the official views of or an endorsement by, HRSA, DHHS, or the U.S. Government.

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