The Tri-Valley Opportunity Council, in conjunction with the Golden Link Senior Center and Lake Agassiz Regional Library, will hold a Senior Resource Fair on Thursday, May 9, from 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. at the Crookston Public Library.
This event will give local seniors the opportunity to discover the many resources available in the area and browse over 15 vendors who will share how their organization can enhance your life. The vendors will include AARP, Alluma, Altru Health System, Benedictine Living Community-Crookston, Crookston Public Library, Dancing Sky Area Agency on Aging, Family Resource Center, Housing and Redevelopment Authority, Justice Bus in the parking lot, New Hope Food Shelf, Options RCIL, Polk County Historical Society, Polk County Public Health, Polk County Social Services, Riverview Health System, RSVP, Sentence to Serve/Chore Service Program, and Tri-Valley Opportunity Council.
Tri-Valley Senior Programs Manager Alicia Berhow believes this event will help seniors recognize all the resources and opportunities available within Crookston and Northwest Minnesota. “They will get a better understanding of what’s available in communities for them,” said Berhow, “There really hasn’t been a great one-stop shop for something like that, and that was our hope when putting this together.”
Those who attend will also have the chance to take a trip down memory lane by visiting Carnegie Library. The Historical Society will have the Carnegie open for visitors during the event, which could attract some tourist attention. “The Historical Society owns the Carnegie next door, and that’s one of our biggest questions,” said Crookston Librarian Paula Ous, “People and visitors that come in want to know about the Carnegie and want to go inside. So they will open the Carnegie during the event from 1-3 p.m.” Those who wish to go inside the historic building will also be able to talk to a tour guide who can answer questions and give walk-through tours of the facility.
Along with being able to visit the wonderful vendors, a representative from D&D Thomforde Garden Center will demonstrate how to create container gardens. The finished container gardens will be given away as door prizes, and a drawing will be held at the close of the Senior Resource Fair.
The Golden Link Senior Center will offer a meal and a Historical Tour of Crookston before the fair begins. Attendees can meet at the library at 11:15 a.m. for a ride on THE BUS to the Golden Link for a $5 Sloppy Joe basket meal before heading on the tour of Crookston. After the tour the bus will bring folks back to the library at 1:00 p.m. for the start of the Senior Resource Fair.
Both Ous and Berhow believe there are many incentives and benefits in attending the resource fair and that the information gathered can help improve lives in Crookston and the region. “I think just getter a better knowledge base of what Crookston has to offer,” said Berhow, “And I think it goes bigger than that. County level, regional level, most places have a pretty large outreach for their services, but I also think this is going to be big on ‘need’ we have a lot to offer, but there’s a lot of needs as well, and that will be something that will be highlighted.”
This event is free to attend for seniors. For more information about the event, click here.
