In Windham, if you want to find out the latest news and enjoy a delicious sandwich, you go to the oldest grocery/variety store and that would be Thayer’s, located on River Road in South Windham. This postcard photo of Thayer’s Store was taken sometime in the 1920s or just a little earlier. In 1918, Charles Thayer purchased from his mother a house and connecting farm buildings and opened a variety store. In those days the store sold grain and farm needs. In fact, this oldest store in Windham used to sell 50 tons of grain a week – that’s a lot of grain, since a ton is 2,000 pounds. Think about it! Even more amazing is that Charles Thayer’s granddaughter and great-grandchildren still run the store. By our reckoning, Thayer’s Store will be 89 years old in 2007! And it’s just as enjoyable going there now, as it was 50 or 60 years ago. Photo from Windham Historical Society archives