Hundreds flock to Seniorfest Saturday

A crowd of more than 200 people descended upon the Washington County Hospital for Seniorfest Saturday morning. The attendees toured more than 40 booths set up on the east side of the hospital that included information about fitness and exercise, energy assistance, Alzheimer?s, lifeline and much more. Attendees were also treated to live entertainment provided by singer and musician Lyle Beaver.

Washington County Hospital and Clinics marketing coordinator Carrie Garman said the event was a ?big success.?

?It helped that the weather was nice,? she said. ?Our entertainment was great, and all the businesses seemed to be pleased. It was a great day.?

Washington County Deputy Nathan Schmuecker was there to talk to seniors about using cell phones to call 911. The county accepts donated cell phones, which it then has reprogrammed to be able to call only 911, and then gives the phones out to seniors who need them.

?The cell phones are cleared of their memory and then given to anyone who needs one for 911 purposes,? Schmuecker said. ?A lot of our seniors are on the road, and since they?re on a fixed income, they may not be able to afford a cell phone plan. These phones are 911 capable so they can still report an emergency.?

Schmuecker said the county distributed seven cell phones at the 2010 Seniorfest. Schmuecker also spoke to seniors about identity theft, which he said is America?s ?No. 1 rising crime.?

?We?re trying to teach them to shred materials that contain their personal information,? he said. ?That will prevent a thief from stealing the information through dumpster-diving. We?re also educating them about phone and Internet scams. One scam is that a person claiming to be one of their relatives writes the person a message saying, ?I?m in trouble. Please send me money.? One of the other scams is, ?If you send us $100, we?ll give you $10,000 back.? If it seems too good to be true, it probably is.?

Robyn Harvey-Smith was at Seniorfest representing Washington County Hospice. She said she spent some of her time explaining what hospice was to people who were unfamiliar with the concept.

?Hospice is about improving the quality of life and not about curative care,? she said. ?We focus on reducing pain and making sure the person feels comfortable.?

Paul Slowick is a massage therapist from Fairfield who gave free back and shoulder massages to visitors to the hospital that morning. Slowick explained that he was able to find tense spots on a person?s back that the person was not even aware of.

?If the muscle is tense, blood can?t get through, and if blood can?t get through, the muscle can?t get nourishment,? he said. ?A lot of what I?m doing is loosening up the muscles to improve blood flow. If you?re relaxing, your metabolism slows down so you don?t feel as much stress. Your heart and lungs do their job better, too.?

Susan Wellington was at the event to answer questions about Lending Hands, an adult day service in Washington.

?Several people we?ve talked to have worked with Lending Hands by donating magazines to it,? she said. ?It?s nice to interact with those people who we don?t always see.?

Wellington said many people informed her that morning that their parents might soon need Lending Hands? services.

?You don?t always expect to have a direct contact like that and today I?ve already had four,? she said. ?Usually, we?re just here to give out information, but I?ve talked to a few people who will probably come out for a visit, too.?

Sherrie Hazen and Lora Bain set up a booth to tell people about their organization, H.U.G.S. (Helping U Get Smiles). Hazen said the group organizes trips around the country, such as to New Orleans and Branson, Mo., and that they are open to people young and old.

?We?re here for anyone who wants to get out and have a good time,? she said. ?We want to promote relationships. We want to get people reacquainted with old friends and to help them make new friends.?

Jackie Knupp set up a booth on behalf of an initiative through the American Cancer Society called the ?Look Good, Feel Better? program. Knupp said she and other volunteers distribute and apply cosmetics and wigs to cancer patients to improve their self-esteem.

?My first-grade teacher Mrs. Mosier, who has passed away, asked me to do her make-up and trim her wig,? Knupp said. ?She told me about the program, and that?s how I became involved.?

Washington County Ambulance had a booth at Seniorfest that included information about the ambulance service?s wheelchair van. Dixie Young of Washington County Ambulance said it was nice to get out in the public to talk to people who have used the ambulance in the past year.

?We?ve heard a lot of positive comments, and I?m glad to hear that,? she said. ?They told me about their experiences, about how they were really nervous before we got there but how we calmed them down. It?s nice to hear positive feedback from time to time.?

Bobbie Sue Higdon is a registered nurse through the hospital?s medical surgery team. She was at Seniorfest administering blood pressure screenings and handing out medication cards. She said some of the seniors were surprised at their blood pressure test results for being higher than they imagined. Higdon said their heart rate was probably higher than normal Saturday morning because they were walking around.

Elizabeth Koehn volunteers with the Senior Health Insurance Information Program (SHIIP), and she was at Seniorfest to answer questions about Medicare Prescription Drug Plan Part D and other public services. She said she fielded a number of questions from seniors who wanted to know the cheapest drug plan available to them.

Representatives of Washington County Public Health were at the event to administer influenza vaccinations. Washington County Public Health Nurse Chrystal Woller said public health performed about 40 vaccinations Saturday morning. She said the vaccinations are designed to prevent the contraction of the three strains of flu predicted to be the most common this year, and that they happen to be the same strains as last year. However, she said that the vaccination only lasts for a year, which is why she recommended that people get a vaccination this year even if they got one last year.