Women's Expo offered health, beauty tips for women

Small business owner Gennifer Brinker so enjoyed last year's Women's Expo that she decided to attend it again this year.

"It's great to be able to come to one place where you have so many vendors offering all sorts of information," said Brinker, a massage therapist. "It's also nice that it's geared toward women."

In addition to being informative, Brinker said, she felt the expo was also a way to do some networking.

Once again, Yuma Regional Medical Center and the Yuma chapter of the American Business Women's Association teamed up for the fourth annual Women's Expo held Saturday at Yuma Civic Center.

"We do this because we want to celebrate women in our community and the important role they play in it," said Mary Jane Cambers, membership chair for the Yuma chapter of the American Business Women's Association. "There are a lot of women-related interests being represented here."

Billed as a day of pampering, professional enrichment and fun, the event offered more then 80 exhibit booths from local businesses, including a Spa and Beauty Lounge that featured live makeovers.

"It's also a place to come and pamper yourself, which is one of the reasons we are doing it before Mother's Day," Chambers said.

In addition to how-to demonstrations, there were massages, speakers and free health screenings throughout the day.

Other events were a Chat-and-Cook demonstration with techniques on healthy cooking and a box-lunch seminar that gave advice on how a woman can start a fitness program with her girlfriends.

The expo ended with a Wear Red For Women Fashion Show for heart health.

"In between each outfit, we give out heart health tips," said YRMC spokeswoman Machelle Headington. "The seven warning signs of heart disease for women are different than for men."

Event organizers estimated that this year's expo drew about 2,500 people