The 26th Annual Senior Fest was held this morning at the Old Town Mall, where they had a huge turnout.
Every year they put the event on for seniors and veterans, and they get very excited to come down and mingle with one another, get a bag of free goodies, eat lunch, enjoy the live music and get access to various resources for their health.
“Stuff like this brings them together and they find that peace of mind, they find the information, they find those resources, Medicare and Medicaid, they go through all the parts A B and C they get a better look at what’s available to them,” said Chase McMullen, the event's coordinator.
“I really enjoy it, we got a lot of friendly people, some really good ideas here, good information to help us seniors out, good programs, nice people,” said Senior Fest participant John Marcinko.
Marcinko told us that seniors struggle with living conditions the most, but the senior fest helps make finding a place to live easier.
“I’m 74 years old, and eventually I know I’m going to need a center to live in and so this is where I would go to get that information,” he said.
He also added that everything a senior could want is provided in a pamphlet they can take home with them, so they have all the information at their fingertips.
“We get all kinds of stuff at home in the mail, most people don’t look at their junk mail, now you got a place,” Tony Rice, a senior from Sparks said.
Marcinko also said he feels more at ease every time he goes to the Senior Fest.
“I needed some place, instead of going to one place or another, it’s all together, it’s very combined you get a better idea of what’s going on in the community," Marcinko told us.
He also mentioned that some other seniors find out about the event by word of mouth, recalling a conversation he had with his neighbor.
"I just talked to him, and he said I’m glad you told us about it because we need the information,” Marcinko said.
Rice told us it's nice to see seniors getting out of the house.
“Well you can definitely tell theirs a hearing issue because everyone’s yelling to be heard," Rice laughed. "But no I think the opportunity to be face to face with the reps about the products they’re offering is a good idea.”
For next year's Senior Fest, McMullen had one thing to say, “If you haven’t been to Senior Fest and you have parent or grandparents and you’re a senior citizen, you should come on down here we’ll be doing it again next year for the 27th annual.”
