The 12th annual Aging Well Living Well Expo kicks off on Friday, October 4, 8:15 a.m. to 4 p.m. with a breakfast keynote address by Diane Atwood, the former health reporter on Maine’s WCSH6 news station, who now has multiple internet platforms on aging and health. Featuring workshops and lectures, the day-long Expo is a learning opportunity, and will be held at the Grand Summit Hotel and Conference Center at Sunday River. 

The Aging Well Living Well Expo is presented by the nonprofit SeniorsPlus, the designated Area Agency on Aging for Western Maine. Tickets for the Expo are $25 per person and include breakfast and lunch, as well as entrance to workshops. Tickets can be purchased via the brochure downloadable at www.seniorsplus.org/AWLW or by calling 1 800-427-1241. Raffle and chondola ride tickets may be purchased for an additional fee. Seats are limited; advance registration is strongly recommended.

Diane Atwood is author of the blog Catching Health with Diane Atwood and this year introduced her podcast Conversations About Aging, for which she interviewed people across Maine ages 60-100 about their perspectives on aging. Her keynote will focus on these life stories and the discoveries she has made working on her podcast. In the interviews that comprise her podcast, she encourages her subjects to think deeply about how they are living their lives. Their responses encourage a wider conversation about growing older. In her talk, Diane will share some of the stories she’s heard and the lessons she has learned.

Diane’s career path began with working as a radiation therapist at Maine Medical Center. She went on to work for 20 years as the health reporter at WCSH (NewsCenter Maine), the NBC-affiliated television station. She left in 2002 to manage marketing and public relations for Mercy Hospital (now Northern Light Mercy Hospital) in Portland. In 2011, Diane decided to combine the experience and skills she had acquired over the years to create the award-winning health and wellness blog Catching Health and now Conversations About Aging. Both the blog and podcast may be found at CatchingHealth.com and in the Bangor Daily News.

Attendees are invited to explore serious learning, such as understanding Medicare options, having fraud and scam awareness and doing first-time explorations like learning about self-employment and marijuana. The workshops to be presented at the Expo cover a spectrum of topics including law, health, exercise, cooking, and art. Workshop titles range from “Healthy Dessert Choices” to “Long Term Care Planning,” to “Self Defense and Safety” and “Downsizing Made Easy.” Workshops run 75 minutes each.

“Our goal is to inspire and encourage healthy, active aging,” said Betsy Sawyer-Manter, President and CEO of SeniorsPlus. Almost 300 people attended the Expo last year. A complete schedule of programming can be found at the SeniorsPlus website, www.seniorsplus.org.  

SeniorsPlus is grateful for the support of its major sponsors for the Expo: Turner Publishing, Inc., Subaru of America, Healey & Associates, Central Maine Healthcare, Senior Planning Center, Home Care for Maine, Woodlands Senior Living, Martin’s Point Health Care, and Gleason Media.

The mission of SeniorsPlus is to enrich the lives of seniors and adults with disabilities. Established in 1972, the organization believes in supporting the independence, dignity, and quality of life of those we serve. 

SeniorsPlus covers Androscoggin, Franklin, and Oxford counties, where it is the designated Area Agency on Aging. The agency focuses on older people, adults with disabilities, and families, and offers a network of support, including information and assistance, short-term case management, Medicare counseling, caregiver support and respite, prevention education, and Options Counseling. It provides nutritional services including Meals on Wheels and community dining in our tri-county, largely rural territory. Annually, SeniorsPlus serves 17,000 individuals.