GLADSTONE — The Daily Press Senior Expo, which has been a local tradition for almost a decade, will be returning this month.

“This is the ninth year that the Daily Press has put on this event,” Daily Press Advertising Manager Terrie Belongie (who is serving as the event’s coordinator) said. This year’s Senior Expo is scheduled to take place at the Terrace Bay Hotel on Tuesday, Sept. 25, from 9:40 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., with doors opening at 9 a.m.

According to Belongie, the goal of the Senior Expo is to provide seniors with expert advice on issues relevant to their lives.

“It’s to help inform seniors of different topics they would be interested in,” she said.

As of Friday, Sept. 14, Belongie said all 350 of the tickets that had been made available for this year’s Senior Expo had been distributed.

“It’s a sellout,” she said.

For 2018, the Senior Expo was opened to a wider range of senior citizens than it had been in the past. Belongie said that, while previous Senior Expos allowed people age 62 and older to attend, tickets for this year’s Expo were available to people age 55 and older.

The Senior Expo is free to attend for seniors who have a ticket.

“We’re asking them to bring a canned good or dry good if they would like to support our local food banks,” Belongie said.

A total of nine speakers — representing businesses and organizations such as OSF HealthCare St. Francis Hospital & Medical Group, the Delta Area Transit Authority, and Garceau Insurance Agency, among others — will address many different topics in a series of short seminars during this year’s Senior Expo. Topics that will be discussed include health, housing, community involvement, funeral pre-planning, transportation, estate planning, Medicare, and more.

Belongie said attendees will have opportunities to ask these speakers questions throughout the event.

“If they have questions, it’s open for them to ask questions,” she said.

In addition to these sessions, lunch will be provided. Attendees will be able to choose from either baked chicken Marsala or roast sliced top sirloin. Prizes will be distributed to event attendees, as well.

“We do have some prizes that we’ll be giving away, with a larger door prize,” Belongie said. Drawings will be held after the last seminar, and attendees must be present to win.

Belongie said that, in the past, the Senior Expo has been a worthwhile event for everyone involved.

“It’s been very successful with our speakers, our advertisers, and … the seniors who attended,” she said.

She also noted that she is looking forward to this year’s Senior Expo.

“I am very excited for our ninth annual Senior Expo — it’s just a really good event for our senior citizens to get informed,” Belongie said.

Daily Press Publisher Corky Deroeck said he shared Belongie’s enthusiasm for this event.

“The Daily Press is excited to once again be hosting the Senior Expo, and we’re looking forward to informing and feeding fellow citizens of the county,” he said.