An employee appreciation day at Jo-Lin Health Center in Ironton on Friday offered activities, free food and a way to beat the heat.

Dr. Katherine Carias provided drinks, hot dogs, inflatables and games in memory of longtime employees who died recently, Donna Carpenter and Doug and Kathy Lawless, activities director Melissa Garris, said.

“Doug and Kathy died within four months of each other,” Garris said. “They used to buy bicycles for kids who they knew didn’t have and whose families couldn’t afford bicycles.”

That tradition continued at the event where current employees bought several bicycles that were given away throughout the day.

Other activities offered to the 185 employees and their families were face painting, pick a duck, a water balloon toss, hula hoop contest, hillbilly golf, knock down a can, necklace and bracelet-making, a jump castle and an inflatable water slide.

The event lasted from 2-8 p.m. and by 4 p.m. Garris estimated nearly 100 people had visited.