Ladies, if you haven't been told lately, you are special. You are individually and collectively special for all you do at your work, for your friends and family and for your community.

Anyone that valuable deserves the special attention that Bassett Healthcare is shining on women. This is Women's' Wellness Week and their focus is getting and keeping women healthy during all stages of life.

The Walking Example Group is honored to be a part of the celebration. WE GO was one of many exhibitors at the Women's Health Fair on Tuesday.

As well as the WE GO message of active living and walkable communities, there was a wealth of education about women's health needs and information about getting those needs met.

All of us are our primary healthcare provider.

We are individually responsible for what we eat, how much we move, the bad habits we indulge in, etc., but there's a lot of help out there to keep us in the pink.

Bassett Healthcare in Cooperstown and its satellites, seemingly everywhere in the county, provide an impressive list of services for diverse healthcare needs.

Put yourself first. You're entitled to a vibrant, healthy life and the time it takes to make it happen.

• No more "I don't have time to exercise." Keeping active is a major key to preventing so many health threats, including our major killers, heart disease, diabetes and stroke. Do it NOW. Put down the paper and go for a walk.

• Dump the tobacco. Get whatever help you need to quit, but quit NOW.

• Eat the right stuff. Lots of colorful vegetables and fruit, lean proteins and whole grains. Go lightly on fats, sugar, salt and booze.

• Get the rest and down time your body needs to rejuvenate and your mind needs to keep you sane.

• GET YOUR CHECKUPS. Mammograms, Pap smears, colorectal tests, blood pressure screening, blood sugar levels, etc. Bassett provides a mother lode of prevention and early detection strategies. Find a doctor you like and become partners for your good health.

• Some No Cost exams are available through The Southern Tier Healthy Living Partnership. Call them at 1-877-276-1019.

In celebration of Bassett Healthcare's Women's Wellness Week, WE GO sponsors the "The Darling Buds of May" walking tour of Cooperstown Village flowers.

Join us Thursday, May 12. We gather at Pioneer Park beginning at 4:30 p.m. and the tour departs promptly at 5 p.m.

Call 607-547-2893 for more information or go to www.we-go.org.

Take care of yourselves. You deserve it and a lot of folks around you would appreciate it, too.

Brenda Berstler is the founder of the Walking Example Group (WE-GO) a non-profit organization encouraging walking and walkable communities. Visit their website at www.we-go.org.