ATHENS, P.A. (WENY) -- The Lynch-Bustin Elementary School in Athens was filled with seniors and their families this afternoon to learn about a wide variety of programs and services offered to the elderly. Vendors lined the halls and gymnasium in order to provide these resources and information to the public.
This is the 23rd year that Representative Tina Pickett has hosted the "one stop shop" Bradford County Senior expo to help the older population of the area find what they need, whether they know what they need or not.
Insurance help, nutrition and exercise tips, and veterans benefits are just scratching the surface of what the expo had to offer.
"I call it the one stop shop," said Representative Tina Pickett, (R) Towanda. "There's so much information for anybody who's in the 55 years old and up category, other people can come too but it's really geared toward that group and a lot of information for them. There's a lot of fun things for them mixed in that they might find they want to become part of."
As an addition to the expo, Pickett holds a town hall meeting for all to attend. She discussed a wide range of issues that persist in the area and what she is doing to address those concerns and more. Pickett also brought up guest speakers from local government and the expo itself. At the end, she opened it up for questions to the public.
Although, one of the hot topics at the meeting provided by someone tabling at the expo was being aware of scammers who use believable tactics to trick seniors into handing over money or personal information. Several types of common scams were brought to the attention of guests so they know to avoid these common calls and electronic messages.
"Scammers like to target seniors," said George Dillman, a Consumer Outreach Specialist with the Pennsylvania Department of Banking and Securities. "Seniors have big red targets on them when it comes to scam artists. Us seniors, me included, have to be extra careful with savings, investments, people calling us pretending to be from 'trusted sources', things like that."
Between financial advice about scammers, the plethora of resources and organizations, and, of course, the freebies, people continue to come back to the expo year after year.
"We always come to Tina's Senior Expo, a tremendous thing, a helpful resource in finding out information about anything that's going on in the county and in the nearby areas," said Barbara Krauss, an attendee of the Senior Expo.
Representative Pickett said she likes to see people leave with stacks of pamphlets and papers as they walk out the door. She also gave a huge thanks to all who were involved in making this event happen. The politician and her team look forward to the annual expo and can't wait to help the senior population in Bradford County again next year.