Elder statesmen have a ball at fair’s Senior Citizen Day

At the Holmes County Fair, kids have their day, and the junior fair continues to be the focal point of the weeklong event that took place Aug. 5-10 at Harvest Ridge, but on Thursday, Aug. 8, the golden agers had their moment in the sun, with a large contingent of seniors taking advantage of Senior Citizen Day.

Sponsored by Foundations Health Solutions, Walnut Hills Retirement Community and Danbury Senior Living, seniors found plenty of activities and informational booths from a variety of organizations designed to provide insight into topics relating to senior healthcare.

The event included special discounts from food vendors and special music from The Lovedays.

Several years ago Kathy Schlabach created Senior Citizen Day, recognizing the value it could bring to the seniors visiting the fair. The other reason she has such a passion for it is that it entices seniors to get out to the fair and socialize.

“For so many years, we’ve had special days at the fair for kids and families, so why not create one for the seniors,” Schlabach said. “We turned to our community partners, and everyone was so gracious in getting this started and continuing to present a special day.”

Giveaways from each of the tabletop organizations, which gave away a host of freebies to the seniors, invited people to stop at the tables to discuss information like senior living, hospice, the Darb Snyder Senior Center, hearing, sight and more.

“It’s wonderful that we can have this in one air-conditioned place with so much valuable information at their disposal, and it is really exciting to see everyone sitting and talking, listening to the Lovedays and sharing time together,” Schlabach said. “It’s exactly what we envisioned when we first started this eight years ago.”

Michael Derr, Holmes County health commissioner, said the event was perfectly designed to provide critical information to seniors by creating a one-stop-shop experience.

“This has been a project of love from Kathy over the years,” Derr said. “Our seniors are an important part of our community, and oftentimes they are overlooked when it comes to discussing overall health in the county. This is a wonderful time to provide information that helps keep our seniors living independently in a way that they can be empowered.”

He said seeing all the companies represented shows the commitment Holmes County is making to serving seniors in the county and beyond, and seeing the seniors connecting and fellowshipping also is an important part of the day.

“That interaction helps keep people young at heart,” Derr said. “Community is so important for a long life, and that’s what we’re seeing today.”

The event even saw many of the community companies that inundated the midway provide door prizes, which saw many of the seniors hanging around to claim their bounty.

“We’re so grateful to all of the companies that donated prizes. We had some really great items,” Schlabach said. “That really shows their willingness to get behind this important event.”