A BIG BEACON thank you!
At this year’s Grand Junction BeaconFest, more than 2,500 people walked through the doors of Grand Junction Convention Center, excited to immerse themselves in a day filled with entertainment, resources and giveaways at Colorado’s largest and funnest celebration of age!
Swing City Combo 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.
Local experts shared their advice about Medicare, charitable giving, breakthrough medical treatments and more to curious seniors who attended our free seminars.
BEACON readers selected Steve Olney, a dynamic volunteer with Community Hospital and Community Food Bank, for this year’s Volunteer of the Year award. He and 11 other marvelous volunteers were honored at the stage for their altruistic support of local nonprofits.
As if the seminars, live entertainment and vendor booths weren’t enough, attendees 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, movie passes and more! Thank you to all of the businesses who donated the wonderful gifts that made these drawings so exciting.
BeaconFest wouldn’t have been the same without the friendly support of more than 100 vendors who set up booths, and our show sponsors: Medicare Resource Center; Hilltop Senior Services; Humana; Family Health West; Bellco; Colorado Advanced Orthopedics, Sports Medicine and Spine; and KREX News Channel 5. Each booth painted a picture of its own unique offerings to create a fair of local businesses that value being a part of the senior community.
To our volunteers, entertainers and most importantly, you, our guests, thank you for coming to BeaconFest and for reading the BEACON!
Volunteer of the Year Winner
Steve Olney
Steve Olney has volunteered six years with Community Hospital, greeting clients and making them feel at ease as he chats with them and escorts them to appointments. Steve demonstrates this same level of hospitality at Community Food Bank, where he explains the shopping model to new clients and updates return clients of any changes and answers questions.
2023 Senior Choice Winners
BeaconFest attendees voted:Best Overall Booth: Bellco Credit Union
Booth with the Friendliest People: VA Western Health Care
Booth with the Best Giveaways: Olive Garden
