Annual Health and Wellness Expo returns to Stamford
STAMFORD — For its 10th anniversary in Stamford, the annual Health and Wellness expo is making a simple bet.
“Now more than ever, people are interested in health,” event organizer Tammi Ketler said. Ketler and her company TMK Sports and Entertainment founded the expo a decade ago.
The annual wellness, fitness and healthcare fair returns to the Harbor Point boardwalk on Sept. 11 and 12 with 85 vendors and endless expositions all dedicated to a balanced mind and body.
“The mission of this event... is all about promoting educating and providing resources for the community to learn about health and wellness and how to really take charge of their own health and their family's health,” Kelter said.
Free health resources are a cornerstone of the events. Across both days, passersby can get COVID-19 vaccines, CPR training and blood pressure screenings from Stamford Health for free and outdoors. Pharmacists from the pharmaceutical division at Grade A ShopRite will also provide free flu shots to insured individuals. People without insurance qualify for the flu shot as well, but must pay $22 for the vaccine.
Registered dietitians from Grade A ShopRite will also provide nutrition consults throughout the weekend, and pharmacists from Walgreen plan to administer the shingles vaccine at the fair, too.
Alongside the healthcare offerings, instructors from across the region will teach free fitness classes. The 45-minute sessions run the gamut from yoga and Pilates to high-intensity interval training.
Fitness instructor Billy Blanks Jr. — a Greenwich resident and the son of 90s exercise pioneer Billy Blanks — is set to teach three sessions of his “Dance It Out” workout classes, which are the bedrock of his identically titled program on the Lifetime network.
Vendors, companies and pop-ups will also showcase everything from pet wellness products, healthy food and drink, “eco-friendly” spirits and fitness equipment. Stamford Health’s Health and Humor Associates — a troupe of volunteer clowns, called the HaHa’s for short, typically tasked with visiting hospital patients — will man the expo’s “Touch-a-Truck,” where kids can sit behind the wheel of a Stamford EMS ambulance and a SWAT truck.
In honor of the 20th anniversary of the attacks on the Twin Towers, the expo will hold a remembrance ceremony alongside city officials and first responders. The National Anthem will be performed by the CT National Guard official singer, Sgt. Joe Colavito.