Healthy Lifestyles Expo puts the spotlight on wellness.
Healthy Lifestyles Expo informs public of area resources
A state representative made it his mission to inform the community about different aspects of healthy living with an annual expo at the SunnyBrook Ballroom May 5.
From health screenings to educational breakout sessions, the 2017 Healthy Lifestyles Expo had information on various resources available in the area. State Rep. Tom Quigley, R-146th Dist., organized the annual event along with sponsors TriCounty Community Network and The SunnyBrook Ballroom.
Quigley began the health expo as an event for seniors when he was first elected to the state Legislature in 2004.
“The first two to three years I was in office, it was strictly a seniors’ expo then we decided let’s expand it to a healthy lifestyles expo. We try to incorporate more people and talk about health at all levels,” he said.
Last year, the expo began having breakout sessions on different topics and Quigley said those classes were expanded at this year’s event because there was a lot of interest. There were workshops on healthy eating, different kinds of fraud and chair yoga. Quigley said the sessions were on timely topics that dealt with financial and physical health.
He said the expo is meant to be a place where community members can find resources about various health situations. He said with the increase of the drug and opioid problem, the expo was there as a place people could turn to for more information.
Quigley said the annual event also gives him a chance to talk with the community about other political issues. On May 4, the House passed a new version of the health care bill that will replace parts of the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare.
“For the purpose of the state, our budget’s due June 3 so probably nothing will be done that will impact us this year but we’ll want to keep an eye open next year,” Quigley said speaking of the bill.