From cutting-edge wellness services to local lifestyle favorites, a one-stop showcase invites residents to browse, sample and connect with community businesses under one roof.
Hometown News’ third annual Lifestyle and Wellness Expo will be from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 28, at Sunshine Park Plaza, 2400 S. Ridgewood Ave., in South Daytona. Once again, Hometown News brought together the best-of-the-best vendors to showcase this year’s newest trends, providing the community with a wealth of wellness and lifestyle options.
More than 80 vendors from a variety of industries, such as healthcare, insurance, travel, pet care, massage therapy and more, will show the newest trends and deals to benefit consumers, who can attend this event for free.
The expo continues to grow every year. Last year, the expo welcomed more than 800 attendees, and this year’s event is on track to surpass last year’s vendor count, stated Kim Milo, Hometown News event organizer and senior account executive.
This is in part due to the excitement and feedback from vendors after last year’s event, which was overwhelming. Many vendors leapt at the opportunity to work with Hometown News again for this year’s event, Ms. Milo stated.
“It is incredibly rewarding to see how excited our local businesses are to participate year after year,” Ms. Milo stated.
The expo was created in 2024 to provide Hometown News’ audience with the opportunity to connect face-to-face with a wide range of local businesses that make up their community, Ms. Milo stated.
“Events like this also help sustain truly local journalism, allowing us to keep important community information accessible, independent, and available to everyone,” Ms. Milo stated. “This year, we’re especially excited to raffle off a beautiful lab-grown diamond ring donated by Masterpiece Jewelers – one of our longtime clients – to one lucky attendee. At its core, this event reflects the idea that strong communities are built on informed residents, engaged local businesses, and access to reliable local news and information.”
This year’s expo’s grand raffle prize is a brilliant 1-carat, three-stone lab-grown diamond ring, set in 14-carat yellow gold and valued at $1,499.95. In addition to perusing a variety of vendors, guests will have the opportunity to participate in additional raffles, giveaways and food samples at the expo.
Although Hometown News is hosting the event, the expo’s success was guaranteed by its sponsors. This includes Platinum Sponsor Volta Well, Gold Sponsor Arrow Clinical, and Silver Sponsors Blue Ocean Dermatology, The Blake, Pet Evolution, Progressive Medical Research, Fortrea, Masterpiece Jewelers, Florida Orthopaedic, Victory Casino, AWS Roofing, and the Port Orange South Daytona Chamber of Commerce. Aunt Catfish is sponsoring the Vendor Hospitality Suite.
But you cannot have such a wide variety of vendors without some great food choices to showcase. Down the Hatch, La Diva and Malibu Grill represent some of the fine food choices that will be available at the expo, but attendees will find many more.
Scott Turner is the founder of VoltaWell, a platinum sponsor. He opted for a platinum sponsorship because the Volusia community deserves better hydration information, he said.
“Most of us already drink enough water — yet millions struggle with fatigue, fog, cramps, weight issues, and recovery problems because water is not getting inside the cells where it belongs,” Mr. Turner said.
VoltaWell uses non-invasive medical-grade bioimpedance testing to measure seven hydration markers, and will give expo attendees a personalized report, which would usually cost $49.95, Mr. Turner said.
“VoltaWell’s goal is to educate the community, not sell hype. Hydration is measurable, testable, and foundational to energy, clarity, performance, and long-term health,” Mr. Turner said.
Port Orange City Councilman Shawn Goepfert is also the community ambassador for Arrow Clinical, a gold sponsor. He said the company is happy to support the expo because it will educate the community on available resources, it connected him to other industries and hundreds of people visited the expo last year.
“For us, it is getting in front of people that are not aware of what we do because maybe they don’t do social media; maybe they don’t go on the internet; maybe their doctor doesn’t know about us,” Mr. Goepfer said. “If we can get out in front of the public, this is a perfect venue to do it.”
Port Orange South Daytona Chamber of Commerce, a silver sponsor, is also excited for the expo, President and CEO Don Burnette stated.
“Any time our chamber has the opportunity to stand hand in hand and support our business community and how it serves the community as a whole, I look at it as a terrific opportunity to move us all forward together,” Mr. Burnette stated.
Recommended parking for the Expo, which will be inside the Sunshine Mall, is by the South entrance near the bowling alley and the back Northwest mall entrance by the post office.