SALT Council prepares for annual senior health fair
Published 8:13 am Friday, August 30, 2019
- Star Photo/Amber Wadovick SALT meets at the Elizabethton Senior Center on the first Thursday of every month. Their next meeting, September 5, will discuss the final details of the health fair.
The Seniors and Law Enforcement Together (SALT) Council is gearing up for their annual Senior Health Fair, and this time they plan on it being bigger than ever.
Maryann Owen, Adult Services Coordinator at the library and member of SALT, said they plan on having over 30 vendors this year.
“We will have to share tables,” Owen said.
Karen Mansfield of the Council said the event has been going on for about a decade now.
“It has helped a lot of people,” Mansfield said.
The event, taking place in the middle of September this year, serves as a way for senior citizens in the region to receive resources they may not have had access to before, from financial information to neck massages.
“[Senior citizens] paved the way for where we are now,” she said. “So many are limited in resources.”
She said many senior citizens often struggle, either financially or in transportation or in other ways, and being able to bring all these resources under one roof is immensely helpful.
“I think it is fantastic,” Owen said. “This is one area where a senior can come in and find information.”
Mansfield said the event saved a person’s vision one year.
“We had an eye doctor one year,” she said. “It saved a person’s eyesight.”
The fair also serves as a way for these various resources to interact, as well, Owen said. In particular, the library, the center and the UT Extension Office have learned the wealth of information each of them can share with each other. Even the massage is part of a partnership with the Yoga Farm.
“Ballad Health wants a few tables,” Owen said.
She described it as a way for seniors to “shop for information” absolutely free, all in a location easier to access.
Owen said her work with adults at the library naturally lends itself to working on events like this.
“I am always a cheerleader,” Owen said of her involvement in the event.
According to the senior center, the fair will also include representatives from Walgreens, who will give free flu shots.
For more information about the event, contact the senior center at 423-543-4362 or visit the center at 428 East G St. The event will run from 9 to 11 a.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 17.
SALT meets on the first Thursday of the month at the senior center at 12:30 p.m., and their monthly meetings are free and open to the public.
