PITTSTON – Camille Stanis, of Hughestown, wants to be informed of all health options as she enters the golden years of life. That’s why she attended the fifth annual Health Fair hosted and co-sponsored by the Pittston Memorial Library on Nov. 14.
“I just had my dear sister-in-law die of Alzheimer’s and I’d like to know more about Alzheimer’s prevention,” Stanis said. “There are different organizations here that I could get guest speakers for our church at Our Lady of the Eucharist in the Junction. I was hoping to have someone hook me up with a speaker to talk to our group about elder abuse or finding signs of people being abused in your neighborhood.”
Howard Grossman, Pittston Memorial Library’s fundraising director and chair of the health fair, was pleased with the response from healthcare agencies, as well as with the response from the public.
“This is our fifth annual Health Fair and it’s probably the best that we’ve had; I think we had more people come and visit,” Grossman said. “It’s been a good mix of agencies or organizations that took part in the health fair this year. In a few months, I’ll start planning next year’s event.”
The Cosgrove Center, where the event was held, was filled to capacity with 30-plus vendor tables and Grossman said he would love to have the problem of it getting bigger to expand.
“I’m comfortable with the fact that we could put 30-vendors in here,” Grossman said. “I would love to outgrow it to have a larger venue, but for now, this serves a useful purpose. We have a lot of repeat vendors and this year we have four or five new vendors.”
Cawley Physical Therapy & Rehabilitation marketing representing Alysha Marzani had a table set up as in the past.
“It’s such a great location and awesome that it’s (health fair) happening right here in Pittston,” Marzani said. “We personally love coming out just to see all the companies that get involved and to try to collaborate with them and to meet the community. That’s the most important thing that we’re out here talking to everyone to see if Cawley Physical Therapy can help.”
For Susan Parise of At Home Quality Care, it’s about networking with other agencies.
“When I attend these things, it’s not just about the people coming through the door, I’m here to actually talk to other vendors,” Parise said. “I like to share information with other agencies. It’s really an exchange of information among vendors. My goal when I do an event like this, if I can get one person to ask me a question about our services to help out, then my job is done.”
“You could find out a lot of information in just a few minutes,” Stanis said. “I never knew this (health fair) existed, which is a good idea.”
