Promoted by its sponsor as “the ultimate marketplace” of information for senior citizens, thousands of seniors explored the Senior Lifestyle Expo held recently by the Northeastern Illinois Area Agency on Aging at the Inland Meeting & Exposition Center on Ogden Avenue.
Proceeds from the event will help benefit the agency’s Holiday Meals on Wheels program, according to the agency’s special events manager Connie Kobitter.
While that was one of the primary incentives to have the event, “We also do a lot of community events, and I’m constantly getting people that say `I didn’t know you existed,’ ” Kobitter said, “so, we needed to have another vehicle to get the word out about aging services . . . because there is a whole network out there of aging services that people don’t know exist.”
Expo seminars covered legal and financial planning as well as traveling and care-giving. Longtime WGN radio personality Wally Phillips amused audiences, sharing the entertainment lineup with theater, music and dance performances. And more than 80 business exhibitors offered information on everything from enticing travel tours and home security to cremation and assisted living communities.
Downers Grove resident Patricia Illing, 72, found herself drawn to the unusual and popular exhibit of the non-profit San Francisco organization, SeniorNet, which offered visitors a chance to get familiar with computer equipment, explore the World Wide Web and send e-mail messages to one of the organization’s volunteers.
“I came to learn about the Internet,” said Illing as part of the computer literacy plan she began with her purchase of a computer last fall. “My grandchildren can use the computer so I thought `hey, I’ve got to learn.’ Eventually I want to get on the Internet but first I’ve got to learn the computer and it’s driving me crazy.”
But the traditional standbys–booths offering free blood pressure and cholesterol screenings–were just as popular with people waiting in the long lines through the health exhibit area.
“We made we sure we did that first,” laughed Dorothy Retzke, 66, pointing to her husband Leonard’s bandaged needle-pricked finger along with her own, “before the lines got too long.”
The Chicago couple said while they enjoyed knowing that there were so many things at the exhibit especially in the health field, they particularly enjoyed all the travel ideas. “We picked up lots and lots of pamphlets to look at when we get home that should keep us busy for a few hours.”
