It’s no secret that Kelowna is an ideal location for the retirement-age population.
And the increasing number of senior citizens hasn’t gone unnoticed by those in the trade show industry.
The inaugural 2012 Kelowna Seniors Expo was held this past weekend at the Kelowna Curling Club.
“The need is there. We’re seeing a huge swing now in seniors population,” said Jim Rice, manager of the 2012 Kelowna Seniors Expo.
“There are 58,000 people that live in Kelowna and West Kelowna that are 55 years of age or older. Over the next 15 years, it will become increasingly more significant—this show is designed to stay around for the next 10 or 15 years.”
Fifty-two exhibitors showed off their products and services geared toward the elderly Friday and Saturday. Rice said that he is confident even more businesses will be interested next year.
“We had some (potential exhibitors) that sat on the shelf this year. But they’ve come through and looked and said that they’ll be here next year. They were happy with what they saw.”
Chiropractor Dr. Dale Forsythe was one of the exhibitors who wanted to be part of the inaugural seniors expo. He was on hand to teach passersby about the importance of the nervous system by offering a computerized nerve scan.
“People are interested in their health, but most people have no idea how their nervous system influences their health—we’re just not educated properly,” said Forsythe.
According to Forsythe, by administering the nerve scan he is able to test individuals’ autonomic nerves, which control their organs, glands, blood vessels and lymphatic vessels that make up 80 to 90 per cent of the nervous system.
“Most people don’t realize that we live our life through our nervous system. . .it’s nice to look after the one system that controls all the other systems in the body.”
The 2012 Kelowna Seniors Expo was free for all who attended, and Rice said he hopes to keep it that way in years to come.
wpaterson@kelownacapnews.com
