NEWBURYPORT – Despite rainy weather, scores of people made the trek to the Senior/Community Center on Thursday to learn more about what makes Greater Newburyport tick during Yankee Homecoming’s Know Your Community expo.
Attendees strolled around the Newburyport Senior/Community Center’s first-floor rooms visiting tables representing organizations like the Newburyport Fire Department, Our Neighbors’ Table, the Newburyport Horticultural Society and dozens more.
In all, 52 local organizations, the maximum amount possible for the space, participated, according to Paul Bushey, co-chair of the event.
Bushey said the idea for the fair came about several years ago to inform residents of all ages, but particularly senior citizens, about services offered to them.
“There’s so much information out there that people don’t know, organizations that are available to help them,” he said.
Mary Kelly, co-chair of the event and activities coordinator for the Senior/Community Center, said the fair also allows local organizations to interact with each other and build relationships.
“We have all of the organizations this close together because we want them all to know each other, so we all know what we’re doing and we all work together. We’re stronger as a team,” Kelly said.
Representatives of local organizations like Krystle Brown, Link House’s director of development, said the fair provided a space for them to mingle with people who may not know what the Amesbury-based organization is all about.
“I think that anytime you get an opportunity to be face to face with people, it’s a great thing, especially the senior community,” she said.
Alden Clark, treasurer of Newburyport Livable Streets, said the event allowed him to educate attendees about his organization’s mission.
“We certainly get a fair amount of traffic. I was just commenting some of the things we do for kids or otherwise. I know there’s a lot of older folks here, and we’ve had a lot of feedback saying, “Oh, I don’t ride a bike anymore,”. We’re not just about bikes, we’re about safety in general. So, it’s good trying to educate people to that, so it’s good reaching that segment,” he said.
Ken Parseghian, firefighter and fire educator at the Newburyport Fire Department, said the fair provides a new environment for them to interact with local seniors.
“We’re not responding to a call. We’re not standing up in front of them teaching a class. And, a lot of the elderly population aren’t online, following our social media and stuff. So, this allows us to kind of put some black and white paper in front of them with the information, because they prefer it that way typically,” he said.
Bushey said going forward, he hopes the Know Your Community Fair will continue as part of the homecoming festivities.
“There’s some events that come and go. Hopefully, this one we make it a staple of Yankee Homecoming,” he said.