About 300 people turned out for the second Eureka Senior Expo, held Nov. 3 at Victorian Gardens and sponsored by Leader Publications.
One of those expogoers, Kathy Deddens, 66, of Arnold, said it was the fourth time she had attended one of the Leader’s expos, and she brought her friend – Donna Byerly, 66, of Herculaneum – to the Eureka expo.
“It is a fun place to be,” Deddens said. “You see people of all ages enjoying their time out, and people are just happy.”
The senior expo featured presentations from Alan Westfall of Adventure 360, a nonprofit group in Fenton that offers paleontology trips for children and adults to search for dinosaur bones in Jordan, Mont.; Don Ficken of the St. Louis Astronomical Society, who promoted the galaxy-exploring experiences available at the recently opened Jefferson College Observatory on the Hillsboro campus; and Ann Moore of the Timbers of Eureka, who spoke about the numerous social and exercise options offered at the city’s recreation center.
The expo also included 35 vendors, a performance by J.B. Louis and the Legends band and two rounds of bingo.
“It is really nice and really well organized,” said one of the vendors, Kathy Beaven of Beaven Insurance in Ellisville, who was representing Aetna Medicare.
“There is a lot of diversity among the companies. You have funeral homes, lawyers for estate planning, all kinds of things,” she said. “It is just amazing.”
Representatives from the Jefferson County Health Department were on hand, administering flu and COVID-19 vaccines. Brianne Zwiener, public communications officer with the Health Department, said eight flu shots and 20
COVID-19 vaccinations were administered.
“We are in the respiratory-illness season when we know flu is an issue, and we are in our second respiratory-illness season with COVID-19,” Zwiener said. “We have vaccinations for both, and we know that vaccination is the gold standard of protection. We encourage anyone who is eligible to get vaccinated for both of those to do so to keep themselves safe as well as their families and communities.”
Marcia Pisano, 78, of House Springs said the senior expo was a great way to get a lot of helpful information and services in one place.
“There are a lot of things here that I am interested in, like the hearing test,” she said. “There is a lot of stuff we don’t ordinarily get to see. It is wonderful.”
Plenty of prizes were handed out during the expo. Robert May of Waterloo, Ill., won the grand prize – a getaway to Kimmswick. The prize package included an overnight stay at Greenhouse Inn; a gift basket from Kimmswick merchants and the Kimmswick Historical Society; gift certificates for meals at the Blue Owl Restaurant, Dough Depot and LaChance Winery, the vineyard’s Kimmswick location; and a personalized tour of historic Kimmswick, including the city’s museum, the Burgess-How House and a walking tour of the city.
May and his wife, Brenda, who attended the Arnold Senior Expo in October and learned that day about the drawing for the Kimmswick getaway, said he and his wife made sure they attended the Eureka Senior Expo for a chance to win the grand prize.
Leader assistant publisher Peggy Scott declared the Eureka Senior Expo a success. “It was wonderful to see our seniors out again at one of our events,” she said. “We are hopeful that 2022 will allow us to have all five of our senior expos in Jefferson County and Eureka.”
The next Leader senior expo will be held in April in De Soto. Others are planned for June in Festus, July in Cedar Hill, October in Arnold and November in Eureka.