By Dylan Cleland
For the Yellow Jacket
The Greene County Senior Arts Fair will be held at the Greene County Fairgrounds Oct. 6. The fair will be featuring four hours of information, prizes and food. Nancy Riggle, Greene County supervisor of the Southwestern Pennsylvania Area Agency on Aging, helped to coordinate the event for senior citizens around the area.
“It’s like a one-stop shop for older adults so that any issues or concerns that they have, whether its [needing] information on Alzheimer’s disease or dementia or about businesses,” Riggle said. “There is just so much information and the best thing about it is that it is all in one place.”
The fair has increased in size throughout the years, and Riggle expects the biggest turnout yet this fall. The event is for senior citizens, but all elders are invited to attend. Admission is free and it is open from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
“We have [more than] 80 vendors this year, that [will come] display their programs, services, things of interest to older adults in our county,” said Riggle. “Everything from healthcare to cruising to flu shots and we have additional health screenings as well.
This year, fair officials are teaming up with Corner Stone Care, which will be present to provide flu shots. Additionally, their mobile unit will be on the fairgrounds to help with other health related issues.
At the event, there will be raffle baskets, prizes and food, which were all donated or sponsored by local agencies and businesses. This allows everyone an opportunity to take something home from the fair, said Riggle. The grand prize will be a flat screen television donated by Wal-Mart. In addition, the raffle baskets will be donated by the vendors.
Riggle said the event will be sponsored by the offices of Pennsylvania State Representative Pam Snyder, Pennsylvania Senator Camera Bartolotta, Greene County Commissioners and the Southwestern Pennsylvania Area Agency on Aging.
“When the seniors arrive they get two tickets, one to put in for the TV and one in for a door prize. This way everyone has a chance to win but there won’t be anybody that wins three things,” said Riggle. “One and done.”
As far as food, a light breakfast will be available and lunch will also be served.
In previous years, the event was well-attended and popular amongst local residents.
“There will be entertainment, lunch, drawings, flu shots and were really hoping for a good turnout. It should be a really good day. This promises to be the biggest fair in Greene County that we’ve had yet,” Riggle said.