Retirement News : Seniors : Retirement fair coming up

Retirement fair coming up

Date Added: 27-07-2005

When the 17th annual Retirement Fair opens its doors at 10 a.m. July 30 at Go Ye Village, Helen Classen, a volunteer at the help desk, plans to make good use of all the services available to seniors. "They have all kinds of medical checks there," said Classen, who attended last year's Retirement Fair. "You can get your cholesterol checked, blood sugar checked, and find all kinds of different services. There are a lot of people who don't go to their doctor to get those things checked, so this gives them the opportunity." Go Ye Village and the Tahlequah Daily Press are sponsoring the annual fair, geared towards retirees in the area. David Williams, director of public relations at Go Ye Village, said that hosting the fair allows area seniors the opportunity to see all of the services the Tahlequah community has available for them. "The fair brings so many people from the community in to see what Go Ye Village is all about," said Williams. "We're not a nursing home, we're a full-service retirement community, and we want people to know that." Williams said when people visit Go Ye Village, they realize that many of the residents there are more active than younger people. "The fair serves as a way for the community to come in and see what we have to offer," said Williams. "They can also check out the variety of services available to them around the community. Between 20 - 25 vendors will be on hand to show their services to visitors to the fair, including Tahlequah City Hospital, Green Country Funeral Home, Oasis Health Food, Hometown Hospice, Hart Funeral Home, Advance Audiology, Nadine Cole, MEA, Banker's Life, Curves for Women, Hospice of the Cherokees, and Shepard's Care. "We can pretty much expect to get between 250 and 300 to come through the doors at the fair," said Williams. During the three hour event, door prizes will be handed out and entertainment will be provided by Northeastern State University's River City Players. Wal-Mart will provide a concession booth for the event. "The entertainment is great," said Denyce Dunham-Finch, a retirement consultant for Go Ye Village. "And all of the proceeds raised from the concession sales will go to the Make-A-Wish Foundation." Dunham-Finch has been at nearly every retirement fair since its inception in one form or another. "I was at the very first retirement fair as a real estate consultant for a company that doesn't exist anymore and have been involved in some way at almost every fair since," said Dunham-Finch. "I bet I've only missed maybe four of them." Along with real estate, she has also been at the fair to discuss manufactured homes, hospice care, and the local radio station. This year, Dunham-Finch will be representing Go Ye Village and telling people about the many services the retirement community has to offer its residents. Dunham-Finch said that interested parties could also arrange a tour of the Go Ye Village complex. "We want everyone to come down to the fair and check out the services that are available," said Pam Hutson, advertising manager at the Daily Press. "We hope this year's fair continues a successful tradition." For More Information: http://www.tahlequahdailypress.com/articles/2005/07/25/news/top_stories/retire.txt