The City's 17th Annual Senior Expo opened Wednesday at the Osborn Center. The two-day event gives Jacksonville's seniors the opportunity to see myriad products and services available to the elder population in the community.
This year, in addition to the traditional health and wellness exhibitors and free health screenings, home improvement companies and products were added to the trade show.
Dustin Hughes, owner of Hughes Custom Builders LLC, said he took a booth for the first time to make his company known to local seniors.
"We'd like to expand our business. So many seniors live in older, established homes that could use some work and the seniors don't want to do it themselves," Hughes said.
New products are on the exhibit floor this year, including vertical gardens, which allow many plants to be grown in very little space with very little maintenance.
"A lot of people don't want to have to get down on their knees to garden, so this is the solution," said Barrie Freeman, owner of Grow Up Hydrogarden.
Each year, the expo opens with the recognition of local seniors who have contributed to the quality of life of their peers and of the community in general.
This year's recipients of the James L. Fortuna Lifetime Achievement Award are Pastor Buck Stanley and his wife, Nikki. The couple has maintained "People Worth Loving Fellowship," a nursing home ministry, for more than 20 years.
The 2013 Female Senior of the Year is Carol Lovins and Willie Ivy was recognized as this year's Male Senior of the Year.
"The Senior Expo is all about providing quality of life to those who have invested their lives in Jacksonville. We want to make sure our seniors are taken care of better than in any other city on Planet Earth," said Mayor Alvin Brown.
The expo also marks the debut each year of the City's updated Senior Services Directory, a guide to public, private and nonprofit services available to seniors. The guide is available free of charge at all City senior centers, public libraries and at the information desk at City Hall.
The Senior Expo continues 9 a.m.-3 p.m. today. Admission is free.
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