Wednesday seniors from the county and surrounding communities joined with law enforcement at the Friendly Buffalo for a day fill with informational presentations.

 

The event was sponsored by Seniors and Law Enforcement Together counsel (SALT). SALT is an advisory council that works through Sherburne County TRIAD and is made up of senior volunteers and representatives from various local agencies and organizations that help to support the older population.     

 

The SALT council tries to identify the needs of senior communities and develop programs to address their concerns. The council works with law enforcement which benefits seniors and with regular contact, law enforcement can gain a better understanding of fears seniors may have and are better able to develop programs to meet those needs.

 

As folks started to arrive for the 22nd  annual senior’s day out, they were welcomed to donuts and coffee. When the event began, seniors were presented with a wide variety of topics including situation awareness in emergencies, presented by Commander Steve Doran from the Sherburne County Sheriff’s Office.

 

Scams, scams and more scams, was presented by Attorney Matt Wernz from the Federal Trade Commission, Midwest region. Sherburne County Sheriff Joel Brott introduced the permit to carry before financials were discussed. Long term care was covered by Leslie Martens from Newman’s Long-Term Care. 

 

Reverse mortgages were covered by Bob Streitz and Mike Kraus from Mortgage Unlimited. Lastly, Dave Jackson from Thrivent Financial spoke about steps to protect financial well-being.                     

 

There was an hour break for lunch, catered by the Friendly Buffalo and included a spread of sandwiches, chips, salads and desserts. Seniors were also welcome to check out all the vendor booths including the Central MN Council of Aging, Elk River activity center, Elk River Police Dept., Elk River YMCA, Guardian Angels senior services, retired and seniors volunteer program, Seniors and Law Enforcement Together Council, Shephard of Grace Senior Community, Sherburne County Sherriff’s office and St. Benedict’s senior community. There were also plenty of free items at each vender booth.

 

After lunch law enforcement gave updates on their communities which were presented by Becker PD Chief Brent Baloun, Big Lake PD Chief Joel Scharf, Elk River PD Chief Ron Nierenhausen and Sherburne County Sheriff Joel Brott.

 

Before the event was over door prizes were given away and folks were asked to fill out an evaluation for input on topics for the next year’s event.