(Community Matters 187) Senior Expo Makes Help Easier To Find

You can feel it when a community event is designed with real life in mind. Senior Expo does exactly that. Rebecca de Finta from the Calhoun County Senior Services Office talks to Community Matters about what to expect from this year's Senior Expo, taking place on Thursday, May 21 from 9:00 AM - 1:00 PM at the Kellogg Arena. 

From estate planning attorneys and financial institutions to senior living facilities, home health agencies, senior centers, the Secretary of State’s office, and transportation providers like Ride Calhoun, there's something for everyone at the event. 

Episode Resources

Calhoun County Senior Expo Website

ABOUT COMMUNITY MATTERS
Former WBCK Morning Show host Richard Piet (2014-2017) returns to host Community Matters, an interview program focused on community leaders and newsmakers in and around Battle Creek. Community Matters is heard Saturdays, 8:00 AM Eastern on WBCK-FM (95.3) and anytime at battlecreekpodcast.com.

Community Matters is sponsored by Lakeview Ford Lincoln and produced by Livemic Communications.

Transcript

Why Senior Expo Starts Early

Richard Piet 0:02

Lots of events to talk about, and one of them is an annual event, certainly in Battle Creek. Rebecca DeFinta is back with us from the Calhoun County Senior Services Office to talk about Senior Expo. Hello, Rebecca.

SPEAKER_01 0:17

Hi, how are you?

Richard Piet 0:19

Uh, very good, thank you. This uh is something you start planning probably the day after last year's event, right?

SPEAKER_01 0:26

Pretty much. I mean, we always have the uh once we're done with the event, we start talking about what went well and what didn't go well and what we'd like to see for next year.

Richard Piet 0:36

The debriefing, that's right. Yes. Okay, and the planning starts. But

Making Local Senior Help Easy

Richard Piet 0:40

yes, this is uh coming up on the 21st of May. Senior Expo is all about seniors. How do you do that? What is it really about?

SPEAKER_01 0:50

So we wanted to make sure that seniors had the ability to be able to gather information about services and products that are in their area. As you know, there's really no longer any phone books, and a lot of seniors might have some issues trying to Google things. So we wanted to make it easy by bringing it all to one location.

Richard Piet 1:11

Yeah, and invite them to come on by.

SPEAKER_01 1:13

Yeah, and it's it's

Social Time Plus Practical Answers

SPEAKER_01 1:15

not just for information. Um, a lot of them use it as a way to socialize. They talk to their friends about meeting up there, they will spend hours there. You know, they go and they see all of the booths they want to see, they'll have their lunch, and then they just like to hang out. And it's a nice safe environment that's climate controlled and it's barrier-free. So, what more could you ask for?

Richard Piet 1:37

Yeah, and they'll come away with information about some things they may need or need in the future.

SPEAKER_01 1:44

Absolutely. That is key right there. Even if you don't need certain services right now, it's really good to have that information handy just in case it comes up.

Richard Piet 1:53

Give us some examples, Rebecca, of some of the information or parties they may encounter

What You Find At Vendor Booths

Richard Piet 2:00

there from whom they'd get information.

SPEAKER_01 2:02

So we usually have over 100 vendors, anywhere from estate planning attorneys, financial institutions, senior living facilities, senior centers, the Secretary of State's office is there, home health agencies, transportation services, and including Ride Calhoun will be there this year.

Richard Piet 2:20

Right. So this is a whole gamut of things that folks of a certain age might uh particularly be interested in. You know, if you're not considered a senior, though, you can drop by, can't you?

SPEAKER_01 2:33

Absolutely. We do not check IDs at the door, so you are welcome to show up, see what it's all about. And if you have a loved one at home that might not be able to get out, come get the information, take it back to them.

Richard Piet 2:46

Yeah, that's a great point. And yes, we won't be carded, I guess. Sometimes it's kind of nice to be carded after a while, but uh that's okay. It's nice to know we don't need that too. Absolutely. Yeah. All right, a hundred and more vendors that you can visit with

Free Rides And How To Book

Richard Piet 3:05

at Senior Expo. Of course, you mentioned Ride Calhoun. That reminds me uh there are ways to get there because undoubtedly someone's listening to this and saying, I don't know how I'm gonna get there. You have that covered.

SPEAKER_01 3:16

We do. We wanted to make sure that it is accessible to anyone in the county so you can reserve a seat with community action at 1-800-994-9876.

Richard Piet 3:31

994-9876. 1-800 number to arrange your ride to Senior Expo. We will repeat that uh before we're done here today. Do you have a sense for how many people actually avail themselves of the free ride? I mean, you know, we presume that that's somewhat significant. I'm not looking for the exact number, but you know, you probably have enough sense for it.

SPEAKER_01 3:57

Well, I know that last year we had all of the community action senior transportation vehicles filled. So you definitely want to make sure you get your seats reserved ahead of time because they have a limited capacity, but they are doing their best. It's all hands on deck with them. They do what they can to make sure that they accommodate everyone who would like to attend.

Richard Piet 4:20

Yeah, so there's the point that we were really after is that uh if you are a little bashful because you have to ask for a ride, you shouldn't be because other people are doing it and they're

Dementia Brain And Colon Walkthroughs

Richard Piet 4:30

happy to do it. So think about that. There's quite a bit going on as well. Uh, and you talked about the vendors, and for example, there's some things, opportunities for learning, like the Miles for Memories inflatable brain that you know, Sherry packs that in the back of her car or something. I have no idea how she does that, but she and the volunteers for Miles for Memories bring that so you can kind of immerse yourself in what that's like.

SPEAKER_01 4:58

Yeah, absolutely. I mean, it's the best way to demonstrate how dementia affects your brain. We also have a large inflatable colon named Seymour, and you can go in and actually punch polyps. Well, actually, they don't want you punching them, but you can go in and see them and touch them.

Richard Piet 5:15

Yeah, and and get a better understanding, is the point of all of that. Yeah, if you if you haven't seen either one of those, and I've seen them both, they're pretty impressive overall. And and if you're trying to understand brain function and dementia and how that works, or understand the notion of colon cancer, come on, this is uh a one tremendous way that this makes an impression and brings understanding. So both of those will be at Senior Expo.

Coffee Donut Holes And Lunch

Richard Piet 5:45

Absolutely. So there's food, right?

SPEAKER_01 5:48

Yes, of course. You can't have an event like this without having some food. So we have coffee, we have donut holes from Sweetwater's, and then we do also have a free lunch that's served at 11:30 from Pastrami Joe's.

Richard Piet 6:04

All right. So 11:30 lunch from Pastrami Joe's. That's all part of Senior Expo. Rebecca, what do you hear from people as you're mingling around and you hear people talking or they come up to you and have questions? What are they worried

Scams Estate Planning Assisted Living

Richard Piet 6:20

about? What do they want to know when they come there?

SPEAKER_01 6:23

Well, most of the time people are are interested in things, information like scams. Um, how do I do certain things? What do I do if I need to go into an assisted living program? There's just a whole variety of different things that do come up as we get older. Some people haven't even started doing any kind of estate planning, so they might not have a will. And that's something that you really want to consider when you're thinking about what you have left, what you want to pass on to your family.

Richard Piet 6:53

Yeah, these are all things uh that sometimes uh might not be the most fun things to talk about, but they also begin to weigh on a person because we know we should be doing something with those, but we don't know how to get kicked off.

SPEAKER_01 7:07

You brought up a very good point. Why be concerned and worry about something? Get it addressed right away, and then you can relax and enjoy your years. There's even funeral homes there that do pre-paid planning so that that way everything that you want is laid out and your family doesn't have to be concerned. So it just makes it so much less stressful to have all of those little details buttoned up so you can enjoy your life.

Richard Piet 7:35

Uh let that sink in for a second. Good advice from Rebecca on that.

Who Should Attend With Family

Richard Piet 7:40

So who's a senior? Is it 60 and older? Yes. Yep. Okay. That's the magic number. However, as we just pointed out, if you're a family member of someone who's 60 and older, you're a caregiver for someone who's 60 and older, you can come too, right?

SPEAKER_01 7:57

Absolutely. And we also encourage anyone that has an ability from the senior living facilities, they are welcome to come too because it's a great outing, it's a safe outing, and it it's just a

When Where Parking And Shuttle

SPEAKER_01 8:10

really fun event.

Richard Piet 8:11

All right. So tell us when and where, Rebecca.

SPEAKER_01 8:14

So it is Thursday, May 21st at the Kellogg Arena. It's from 9 to 1. And as I had said before, we're going to be serving lunch around 11:30.

Richard Piet 8:24

Okay. So you want to get there before 11:30 if lunch is part of the plan and uh and do that. You've got time starting at 9. All right. And as you pointed out too, it's it's kind of a social thing for some folks, but they get the information, and that's the important thing. Now, if you're gonna drive yourself, where do you park?

SPEAKER_01 8:45

So the parking garage right next to the Kellogg Arena will be open and free of charge. So you can utilize that. There are elevators that take you down to the main lobby so you can come in easily.

Richard Piet 8:57

Yeah, if you find that that's full, I can't imagine that uh that it would be that full, but you can park at full blast if you have to.

SPEAKER_01 9:04

Absolutely. And there's a shuttle that runs so that you don't have to walk.

Richard Piet 9:09

Okay, fair enough. And uh, by the way, I feel compelled to mention we talked about the Miles for Memories and Fadable Brain and all of that. Miles for Memories will also talk about their help home and ID bracelet programs. These are tremendous uh pieces of technology that help folks get back home if they happen to wander away without having to take a detour to the police station or the ER or those kinds of things. So check that out as well at the Miles for Memories booth. All right, senior expo, May 21st,

Sponsors Make It Free

Richard Piet 9:45

Kellogg Arena. Rebecca, how do you put this on anyway? Do people help pay for this? How does this it's free to get in for folks? So who's paying?

SPEAKER_01 9:54

We do have a small charge for vendor booths, but it is primarily due to sponsorships. And I would just like to recognize our diamond sponsors: Oakland Hospital, Bronson Battle Creek, Cool FM, and Carewell Services. So thank you.

Richard Piet 10:09

Right. So they uh they help make this free. So thank them when you see them. That will be well appreciated, I would imagine. All right, Rebecca. You'll be uh hopefully at least taking a few days off after this and not planning next year right away. But uh, yeah, thank you for all that you do and your colleagues as well at uh the senior services office in Calhoun County. Thank you. Senior Expo again, it's May 21st at Kellogg Arena. We're back soon on Community Matters.