BRISTOL – Super food honey, healing stone jewelry, tarot readings and natural cosmetics: all could be found at the Passport to Health and Wellness Statewide Holistic Expo at the DoubleTree by Hilton Sunday.
Bristol residents Lynn Rayburn and Elaine Fusco heard about the event from another friend and headed in to check it out.
“We’re just here to look around and see what they have,” Rayburn said.
In addition to shopping and hands-on wellness activities, people had the opportunity to listen to several different speakers throughout the day.
“It’s been a steady stream of people all day,” said Shirley Bloethe, executive director of the Holistic Community Professionals, the organization that hosted the event. “We have a lot of great speakers, a lot of great vendors and a lot of incredible products.”
Take the Reiki-infused candles by April Harmon, for example.
Or Deb Lee’s super food honey, locally-sourced honey blended with health-boosting ingredients like ginger, acai and elderberries.
“I’m a pastry chef by trade, originally from New York City,” Lee said. “When I moved to Connecticut I was like, I’m out here in the woods, I want to be a farmer.”
So she got to know beekeepers across the state and started to support their harvest.
“We collect honey from all these family farms to make our East Coast Honey Blend,” Lee explained. “You get the allergy benefits from all over.”
East Granby resident Christina Bafumo is a full-service, home-based travel agent who also had a booth at Sunday’s expo.
“We’re starting to see more and more people travel again,” Bafumo said. “I was talking to Shirley about doing a holistic group cruise.”
West Hartford resident Steven Adelstein and his partner typically come to the expo as vendors. This year, they decided to go as patrons.
“It’s really cool to just be able to experience all the healers and readings,” Adelstein said.
His partner benefitted from the services of Mary Zenzu, an animal communicator who connected him with his deceased pet.
Meanwhile, Sean Kane of Wallingford sat among a line of tables with other psychic readers.
He and his wife run a company called Foresight.
“Some of us are friends, some of us are competitors,” Kane said of the fellow readers, who offer everything from tarot readings to palm readings. “I work on the idea that the people who come to see me are the people that need to come to me,” he added.
Your Holistic Events hosts smaller Holistic Fairs at the VFW in Plainville every few months. The next one is June 12, from 12-4 p.m.
Erica Drzewiecki can be reached at edrzewiecki@centralctcommunications.com.
Posted in The Bristol Press, Bristol, General News on Sunday, 1 May 2022 17:48. Updated: Sunday, 1 May 2022 17:51.