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The orland park prairie | October 11, 2018 | 11
Active Aging Expo offers ‘healthy’ serving of services
Laurie Fanelli
Freelance Reporter
Aging isn not what it used
to be.
People older than 50 are
more active than ever and,
along with physical wellbeing,
folks are prioritizing
healthful practices across
every aspect of their lives.
With its fourth annual
Active Aging Expo, 22nd
Century Media empowered
attendees to maintain and
improve their medical strategies,
financial planning,
exercise routines, mental
health and more with more
than 40 vendors offering a
variety of services. The Saturday,
Oct. 6 event — held
at the Tinley Park Convention
Center from 9 a.m.-1
p.m. and sponsored by Du-
Page Medical Group, Ingalls
Health System, Porter Place
and Women’s Healthcare of
Illinois — also featured a
healthy serving of fun with
free bingo games and prizes.
The early-fall scheduling
of the expo empowered attendees
to learn more information
about staying healthy
during flu season.
“We were able to get Jewel-Osco
pharmacy to come
in with flu shots, and they
are offering some limited
vaccinations for shingles and
pneumonia,” said Heather
Warthen, chief events officer
of 22nd Century Media.
“That’s a great addition to
have this year.”
As attendees entered the
doors of the expo, one of the
first things they found was
the DuPage Medical Group
booth, where insurance
agents Sakeena Gilbert and
Allyson Rush shared information
about Medicare and
more.
“We’re here to represent
LifeSmart Senior Services
on behalf of DuPage Medical
Group,” Rush explained.
“We represent all of the insurance
carriers and a lot of
people are unsure of what is
covered under the different
plans. We work very closely
with our Medicare beneficiaries
if they have questions
and concerns about what’s
covered and what’s not.”
Rush encouraged attendees
to take advantage of their
complimentary Medicare
overview if they have any
lingering questions about
making Medicare best work
for them.
“Don’t listen to your
neighbor; don’t listen to your
friend at church; or what you
heard out and about,” she
said. “Seek us out.”
The Active Aging Expo
featured several vendors
offering services to make
daily life a little easier, like
ShelfGenie, a company
which designs and installs
custom pull-out or glide
shelves.
“It’s perfect for anyone
who has trouble reaching
into their cabinets,” said
Judy Meyers, owner of
ShelfGenie Chicago South.
“We do kitchens, bathrooms
or any existing space, and
you can get it installed in a
couple of hours.”
Warthen explained that
the expo aimed to cover the
full spectrum of health in
older adults.
“Medical health is obviously
very important when
you’re in the aging process,
but in addition to medical
health you also have emotional
health, financial health
and mental health, too,” she
said.
Vendor Monica Makin, of
Cruise Planners, aimed to
take the stress out of travel
by sharing information about
domestic cruise options, as
well as travel abroad.
“We’ve got Pearl Seas
Cruises, which actually has
a cruise that leaves from
Chicago and sails the Great
Lakes, and we’ve got American
Cruising, which sails the
Mississippi, the Ohio River,
Gail Kaufman (left), of Homewood, Linda Campbell (middle), of New Lenox, and Susan Thomas, of Orland Park, chat with
Tinley Park Police Department crime prevention officer Dina Navas Saturday, Oct. 6, at 22nd Century Media’s Active Aging
Expo. Photos by Laurie Fanelli/22nd Century Media
the Cumberland River [and]
the Snake River,” Makin
said, noting that Cruise Planners
is a full-service travel
agency. “Those are the kind
of cruises that people don’t
always think about.”
Orland Park resident Susan
Thomas invited her
friend Linda Campbell, of
New Lenox, to join her on a
trip to the expo before going
out to lunch.
“A lot of the things sounded
interesting,” Thomas
said.
Campbell added, “We
wanted to get information on
what’s available to us.”
The Tinley Park Police
Department had plenty of
information to share on protecting
oneself from identity
theft and fraud, while Edward
Jones, Marquette Bank
and Country Financial were
among the vendors offering
financial advice.
Attendees also had the
opportunity to say a special
“thank you” to the troops
by signing a holiday card
for members of the military
serving overseas. The cards
will be sent out in conjunction
with the Military Mama
Network.
On top of all the vendors
and activities, the Active
Aging Expo also featured
a variety of speakers and
performers hosting sessions
throughout the event.
Women’s Healthcare of Illinois,
Phil Orsi (the 2018
Orland Township Senior
Idol), Frann Carnivele and
Michael Barr-Schinzel, and
chef Tom Grotovsky all
were scheduled to take the
expo stage.
“We’re closing the stage
out with a cooking demo
from the Unforgettable Chef,
Jose Andrade (left), of Humana, chats with Orland Park
resident Don Pieczynski.
Tom Grotovsky,” Warthen
said. “He does a lot of cooking
classes at Frankfort
Township for the seniors and
has done a few of our expos
before, so it seemed like a
natural fit.”
Up next, 22nd Century
Media is to once again host
its Healthy Living Expo at
the Tinley Convention Center
on Jan. 19, 2019. More
information about upcoming
events can be found at
www.22ndcenturymedia.
com/our-company/events.