2nd annual Grundy County Senior Expo draws another large crowd for bingo, food and vendors

Jennifer’s Garden at 555 Gore Road in Morris was packed full of seniors and providers for the second year in a row Wednesday as the Grundy County Health Department held its second annual Grundy County Senior Expo.

Dr. Tania Schwer, the Director of Grundy County’s Senior Programs and event organizer, said the goal in setting up the event was to have something for everyone and a little bit of something for everyone to do. This led to a Jennifer’s Garden banquet hall full of local vendors and aid organizations and seminars for investing advice and navigating Medicare and Medicaid.

“It’s valuable to know how many people we provided outreach efforts to today,” Schwer said. “But fundamentally, I want them to walk away with information and resources that maybe they weren’t aware of before they walked down the vendor aisle.”

Schwer went down the vendor aisles herself to thank the vendors for being there, highlighting organizations like NiCor that have discounts for seniors and a booth that explains how the property tax freezes for senior citizens work.

The most popular activity, though, was bingo: Several hundred seniors played for prizes like quilts and gift baskets beyond a divider from the vendors.

Minooka Mayor Ric Offerman introduced bingo for the crowd, joking that he’s surprised so much wisdom is allowed to gather in one room.

Mike Schwer, Dr. Schwer’s husband and a volunteer who helped put on the event, said everyone was a lot better prepared this year. Last year had a rush of people who needed organization and a line around the corner. This year, Mike said they were able to get more vendors and more volunteers, and those volunteers were able to usher everyone to where they needed to be.

Tania said there were more people registered this year, which allowed for better organization.

Tania said the Grundy County Health Department’s Senior Program has employment opportunities available on the county’s website at https://www.grundycountyil.gov/services/human_resources/employment_opportunities.php.

“We have a lot of positions open all within Grundy County and we welcome all to apply,” Tania said. “We can train anyone to do the job, but we can’t train you to be empathetic and calm. That’s the only prerequisite.”

Tania said the many volunteers who signed up this year after seeing last year’s success made this year much smoother, and she thanked them for all their help. She also thanked Kasie Livingston and Madeline Collins, her team who planned the event and worked hard to make it a success.