Claire Dow, of Merrimack, takes the self-administered hearing test offered by HearingLife at last month’s Silver Linings Senior Healthy Living Expo at the Nashua Senior Activity Center. Waiting for the results are audiologist AnnMarie Reebenacker, right, and Heather Firicano.
Assisted by his son, Carter, Perry Cataldo, a benefits specialist with Choice Benefit Services in Auburn, answers questions for Nancy Caron, a longtime Nashua resident and retired bank executive, at last month’s Silver Linings Healthy Living Expo at the Nashua Senior Activity Center.
Claire Dow, of Merrimack, takes the self-administered hearing test offered by HearingLife at last month’s Silver Linings Senior Healthy Living Expo at the Nashua Senior Activity Center. Waiting for the results are audiologist AnnMarie Reebenacker, right, and Heather Firicano.
Claire Dow, of Merrimack, takes the self-administered hearing test offered by HearingLife at last month’s Silver Linings Senior Healthy Living Expo at the Nashua Senior Activity Center. Waiting for the results are audiologist AnnMarie Reebenacker, right, and Heather Firicano.
Claire Dow, of Merrimack, takes the self-administered hearing test offered by HearingLife at last month’s Silver Linings Senior Healthy Living Expo at the Nashua Senior Activity Center. Waiting for the results are audiologist AnnMarie Reebenacker, right, and Heather Firicano.
Assisted by his son, Carter, Perry Cataldo, a benefits specialist with Choice Benefit Services in Auburn, answers questions for Nancy Caron, a longtime Nashua resident and retired bank executive, at last month’s Silver Linings Healthy Living Expo at the Nashua Senior Activity Center.
NASHUA — The first vendor booth Merrimack senior Claire Dow saw as she entered Saturday’s Silver Linings Senior Healthy Living Expo just happened to be one of those she’d hoped would be there.
“I’ve been wanting to do this for awhile now,” Dow said, referring to the free hearing screenings being offered by audiologists from HearingLife, one of three dozen vendors that participated in the Expo held at the Nashua Senior Activity Center.
It’s the first time the Expo, a New Hampshire Union Leader event, was held in Nashua. Currently in the works is a fall Expo, which is scheduled for October, with the date and time to be announced soon.
Dow said she was pleased to see so many different types of products and services geared toward seniors when she attended a previous Expo in Manchester. That success prompted her to come to Nashua Saturday, and she wasn’t disappointed.
Sponsorships for the event included the presenting sponsor, WellSense Health Plan; supporting sponsors Langdon Place of Nashua and Silverstone Living; and partner sponsors Home Health & Hospice Care; Easterseals New Hampshire; Heaven Sent Home Care and Staffing Solutions; Strategic Caring Solutions; Anthem; and Legacy Care Law Firm.
The Expo’s purpose is to provide a face-to-face forum where seniors age 60 and up can interact directly with experts, advocates and care providers that cover topics ranging from estate planning, the ins and outs of dealing with Medicare and Medicaid, adaptive and mobility options, insurance and real estate and various facilities that offer independent, assisted living and nursing-level care.
If visitors on Saturday found fairly heavy foot traffic in the area of the booth belonging to Bel Air Nursing and Rehabilitation, there was good reason: the presence of “Bailey Bean,” a rescue dog that the staff nursed into a friendly, mellow therapy dog who lives among the facility’s residents.
Clifford Jakubowski was among visitors who made friends with Bailey Bean, who was content to watch the goings-on from his perch on Jakubowski’s arm.
“I figured I’d come today after hearing about this,” he said. “There’s a lot of information here. As I get older, I’m seeing doctors more and more,” added Jakubowski, who is in his 60s.
The Expo also got high marks from visitor Nancy Caron, a longtime Nashua and Hudson resident and retired bank executive.
“They certainly know their stuff ... everyone seems quite well-versed” on the products or services they brought to the event.
Perry Cataldo, a benefits specialist with Choice Benefit Services, brought his 11-year-old son, Carter, to help greet visitors and make sure they knew they could help themselves to the candy set out in bowls.
Cataldo said that in addition to taking part in the Expos and similar events, he sets up a presentation every two weeks or so at the Senior Center.
“It’s great to have someone you can become acquainted with,” he said of the seniors who attend his seminars to learn about benefits.
Many visitors — especially longtime Senior Center members — who arrived about midway through the Expo were greeted by a familiar face: Pat Francis,who was the center’s executive director for 38 years until her retirement about a decade ago.
Now a board member and frequent volunteer, Francis promptly occupied an empty chair at the center’s booth and, along with current executive director Margo Bell — a 41-year employee — welcomed and chatted with visitors.
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