Senior picnic proves fruitful knowledge

NEW YORK MILLS, June 24, 2009 - The Roselawn Banquet House didn't have many empty spaces in the parking lot or empty stomachs in the building.

The Oneida County office for the Aging and Continuing Care hosted a summer picnic and the Health, Wellness and Informational Fair. Participants say, the appetite for information was as strong as the appetite for the barbecued chicken that was served. 

"The food is just the excuse to get us together," Lisle Sanborn, 59, of Rome, said. "Once we're here, we really learn a lot." 

It was the second time the office for the aging has had a picnic on such a large scale, with more than 400 seniors attending. While they were there, they were able to speak with 40 vendors that gave them various types of information specific to the senior population, Michael Romano, the director for the office for the aging said.

"We are overwhelmed by the participation we've gotten," Romano said. 

Near the end of the event, just before the highly anticipated raffle, a hall full of seniors listened to a speech about how to avoid being the victims of scams. 

Joel Marmelstein, Assistant Attorney General-in-Charge of the Attorney General's Utica office, said these scams target seniors and have been popping up rather frequently recently. 

"The middle ages had the Bubonic plague and we have telemarketers," he said.

Marmelstein warned seniors of check-cashing schemes, fraudulent claims of large inheritances left behind and disreputable contractors. 

"At the heart of every one of these scams is greed," Marmelstein said. 

He said that seniors make up 13 percent of the population, and these scams involve senior citizens 65 percent of the time because they're usually home. 

Marmelstein encouraged the seniors to call his office if they have questions about an e-mail, letter, phone call, or a knock on the door they receive. 

"The bottom line is, things that seem to be to good to be true almost always are," he said.