Lil' smokies or baby carrots?

Last week, The Columbian celebrated the holidays with our annual potluck.

Employees bring in their favorite dish to share. Around the 11 o’clock hour, people start scouring the building for the good stuff. (This is the one time a year I wander over to the circulation department)

As the meeting mavens were loading up on cheesy potatoes, lil’ smokies and brownies, we got to thinkin’: Do health officials have potlucks?

And if so, do their potlucks include food like ours?

Things like:

-Three Crock-Pots of lil’ smokies

-One Crock-Pot of creamy macaroni and cheese, which, based on the color and consistency, I’m confident included lots of Velveeta

-Veggies and fruits, like dates and jalapenos – wrapped in bacon

-Several potato dishes, again, with bacon and cheese

-And among the numerous desserts: Gooey butter bars (ingredients: butter, sugar, powdered sugar and cream cheese).

So, I emailed Clark County Public Health Director John Wiesman and asked.

Turns out, health officials do have potlucks – but they look nothing like The Columbian potlucks.

Sometimes the health department potlucks include family favorites or ethnic dishes, Wiesman said. They also have an annual Halloween potluck, which, I hope, includes treats.

Recently, however, health officials made a push to promote healthier foods.

They had a salad day when everyone brought their favorite salad toppings. Another time they had soup day.

Salad? Soup?

We’re guessing the person who brought bacon bits to the salad party got dirty looks.

And the guy that brought the full-fat version of ranch dressing? Doubt he’s getting invited to the next salad day.

But, hey, at least our health officials are walkin’ the walk.