At this year’s Grand Junction BeaconFest, more than 2,000 people walked through the doors of Grand Junction Convention Center, excited to immerse themselves in a day full of entertainment, resources and prize giveaways.

 Peggy Malone kicked off the show’s main stage entertainment, followed by Javier de los Santos’ Latin guitar melodies, King ’n Trio’s swinging hits and Donny Morales’ soulful vocals. The dapper men of Canyon Grand and the ladies of Steppin’ Up Quartet lit up the foyer with their sweet barbershop harmonies, along with Mike Gazdak’s accordion and the peaceful sounds of Robin Freed’s harps in between. Newcomer Billy Bonner wrapped up the show with covers of many classic hits and a few original songs.

Each seminar room hosted a spread of educational presentations on Medicare, financial planning, fraud prevention, breakthrough medical treatments and a chair yoga class in an environment crafted especially for seniors.

BEACON readers selected Carolyn DeBusk, a volunteer with Meals on Wheels Mesa County, for this year’s Volunteer of the Year award. She and 14 other marvelous volunteers were honored at the stage for their altruistic volunteer work with local nonprofits. 

As if the seminars, live entertainment and vendor booths weren’t enough, guests were thrilled by the chance to win door prizes every 30 minutes. We gave away gift baskets, restaurant gift cards, several rounds of golf, free oil changes, bowling and movie passes, cash and more! 

One lucky attendee won travel packages to South Point Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, and a couple others won swim passes and soaks at the Glenwood Hot Springs and Iron Mountain Hot Springs. 

We want to thank all of the businesses who donated these wonderful gifts that made these drawings so exciting. 

 Each booth painted a picture of its own unique offerings to create a fair of local businesses that value being a part of the community. 

As is true every year, this year’s BeaconFest wouldn’t have been the same without the friendly support of the more than 100 vendors who set up booths, and notably, our main sponsors: Medicare Resource Center, Hilltop Community Resources, Humana, Bellco Credit Union, Colorado Advanced Orthopedics Sports Medicine & Spine and KREX News Channel 5. 

To our volunteers, entertainers and most importantly, you, our guests, thank you for coming to BeaconFest and for reading the BEACON! 

We’ll see you at the Montrose Pavilion for Montrose-Delta BeaconFest on Thursday, September 15! For more information, visit www.BeaconFest.BeaconSeniorNews.com

2022 Senior Choice Winners

Best Overall Booth: Bellco Credit Union

Booth with the Friendliest People: Meals on Wheels Mesa County

Booth with the Best Giveaways: Nothing Bundt Cakes

 

Volunteer of the Year

Carolyn DeBusk (pictured right) has volunteered with Meals on Wheels of Mesa County for over 11 years. In addition to driving twice a week, she happily fills in on other routes as needed and goes the extra mile for every Meals on Wheels customer. For Christmas, she worked with her quilting group to create hundreds of placemats for Meals on Wheels customers. On holidays, she brings extra goodies for the people on her routes and enjoys spending time with clients and listening to their stories. In her nomination for DeBusk, Home Delivery Program Coordinator Adrienne Carlo (pictured left) said, “We are blessed to have someone volunteer for us who truly cares deeply for others in her community.”