SCHERERVILLE | Lively entertainment, health screenings and information about physical and financial health combined at the NWI Senior Expo on Thursday at Omni 41's Blade 'N Skate arena.

More than 200 people attended the expo, sponsored by Omni 41, St. Margaret Mercy Health Services and The Times. The event was designed for those ages 55 plus who want to live a more vibrant lifestyle, said Lisa Resney, program specialist.

Among the sources of information for attendees were displays by 45 vendors.

Some booths sponsored by Omni 41 and St. Margaret Mercy, which owns the fitness center, offered health screenings for blood pressure, balance, body fat analysis, nutrition and vision. Others offered information on a wide range of topic from financial advice to home health care.

At 1 p.m., two full-body puppets, Those Funny Little People, wandered through the crowds. These "senior citizens" also stopped to check out the booths and danced with attendees.

Seminars on nutrition, senior living arrangements and setting up wills and trusts drew audiences. Carrie Ranta, facilitator of Omni's Be Lean Weight Loss program, told those at the nutrition seminar that making healthy food choices in an economic downturn is especially important. When eating out, many people choose fast food rather than a sit-down restaurant, and may make high-calorie, high-fat choices because they're less expensive.

People are very conscious now of how much money they're spending, Ranta said. "But you can still make healthy choices when you eat out."

Contestants also competed in two live game shows hosted by HYPE, a local DJ service.

But the most popular event of the day was the Zumba class, conducted by Kim Blech, who teaches this combination dance/aerobics class at Omni. Participants worked up a sweat while moving to hip-hop and salsa music.