By Benjamin Rothstein

DOVER — Hundreds of people — both young and young at heart — visited Bally’s Dover on Thursday for the Central Delaware Chamber of Commerce’s 23rd annual 55 Plus Expo.

“This is an event that is designed to feature our seniors. So, the senior citizens, that’s the fastest-growing sector of the population here,” said chamber president Dr. Dina Vendetti. “And it’s designed to have information about services and products that they might be interested in.”

Despite its name, Dr. Vendetti said there was something for all ages at the free-to-attend gathering.

“The event itself is not just for people who are 55 and older. We always say it’s for people who are 55 and older or people who are taking care of somebody who is a senior or somebody who, one day, thinks they might like to be a senior — because the time to plan for your life as a senior isn’t when you get there.”

Booths featured medical services, renovation companies, financial support, landscaping resources, insurance tools and even a Dover museum.

“It just helps increase awareness (for) new people coming though, coming to Dover looking for things to do,” said Kerri Lacey, director of marketing and public relations for the Biggs Museum of American Art on Federal Street.

Additionally, the expo set up a makeshift classroom, used for seminars about topics like Medicare and dementia.

“(The chamber’s affair is) a good thing for the community because it’s something that brings all of this information under one roof, in one place, at one time, for all the seniors who want to come,” Dr. Vendetti said.

“But, on the chamber side of it, it’s a really good event for our businesses. We have several businesses in our membership who have something to offer for people who are in that age bracket. And so, we get them a chance to showcase their goods and services in front of this group, who is at a point where maybe they’re ready to do something different with their home, maybe they’re ready to do something different with their insurance.”

The 55 Plus Expo is one of the chamber’s long-running events, celebrating its 23rd year, save for 2020. Dr. Vendetti said the pandemic resulted in the 2021 gathering being about half the size of its peak.

“I think the first year after COVID, we maybe had 40 vendors, and the next year, we maybe had 50, and we’ve been inching back, and now, we’ve got close to 75 in there. ... So, we’re just about back to where we were (pre-)COVID, but it’s taken a while for sure,” she said, adding that she hopes for continued growth.