SEBASTIAN — Some had heard of By the River Senior Housing Community off Roseland Road in Sebastian, others only found out because they were drawn to a health fair there on Tuesday and stuck around for a tour of the campus. That, in part, was the point of By the River’s first Senior Health and Wellness Fair.
“Health and wellness are a big part of By the River,” said Community Administrator Ann Borsse. She said the community wanted to not only provide an opportunity for seniors in the area to learn about the various services available throughout Indian River County, but also show off By the River itself.
The campus caught the attention of Marie Egnaczyk, who said she’s already told her children in New Jersey that she wants to live at By the River when the time comes for her to go to a home. She definitely does not want to go back north to New Jersey, she said.
Egnaczyk stopped by several of the health provider booths to get her vitals checked. One booth was a bit different from the rest – that of Alice Omohundro’s Community Acupuncture.
Egnaczyk pulled her hair away from her left ear and showed off a row of acupuncture seeds running down the side of her ear. The seeds are meant to put pressure on key parts of the ear to help relieve her lower back pain.
“It’s a little better,” she said, noting that it had only been a few minutes since the seeds were placed on her ear. “We’ll see how that works.”
Egnaczyk said she is a frequent health fair visitor because she wants to keep up with all the different services available.
“There’s always something new,” she said. The acupuncture at By the River’s fair, for instance, was a new one on her.
Lorraine Descutner spent several minutes at the Florida Eye Institute booth, getting her vision checked and eyes screened for glaucoma.
She said it had been a couple years since she had her eyes checked and figured having it done at the health fair would be appropriate.
Along with vision, Descutner also had her sugar and blood pressure tested.
“And I’m only half-way through!” she said.
And at least one By the River resident took part in the fair Tuesday, having spent all day Monday baking several items to offer at the event.
Yvonne Barrette, a nearly 2-year resident at By the River, said she was happy to see all the people descend on her home.
“Sometimes it’s a little boring because it’s so quiet,” she said.
Borsse said that organizers are already thinking ahead to next year and plan to have another Senior Health and Wellness Fair, making it an annual event.
“Lots of seniors of unaware of what’s available,” Borsse said of medical and wellness services in the area.
