Once again, the people 65 and older are getting special treatment. Along with those hefty discounts we must appear at a license bureau to renew our Maine driver’s license.

What makes this special is the estimated 4-5 hour wait at the Mall bureau or the 2-3 hour wait at the Presumpscot Street site. Most people can renew their license by going to the state’s much-touted on-line service site on the Internet.

The word from the Deputy Secretary of State is that “they” hope to improve service and that the reason for this long wait is the increase in licenses, switch-over to a computer program and shortage of help. The employee at the Presumpscot Street location suggested bringing a book. For a 4 or 5 hour wait, one might also need a lunch and a convenient bathroom and someone to keep your place in line. I’d like to sic Lane and Tommy and the rest of the latest crop of political gadflies onto this state department.

August has flown past us and school is about to start. In all of my dozen years in Windham schools, I don’t think we ever started until the day after Labor Day, but nowadays things are different and most kids begin in August. This will mean more impatient drivers screeching to a halt, as the stop signs jut out on the side of the big yellow bus.

At Windham’s Historical Society, members are in high gear getting ready for their first ever Antique Appraisal Day which will be Saturday, October 8 at the public library. It will be accompanied by a Silent Auction and promises to be an exciting time for all. Posters and publicity will be forthcoming.

During August, many visitors from “away” and at home stopped at the museums. One was a Mayberry family member, all the way from the Congo; another was Max Millard, son of the late Doctors Millard, who made Windham their home for many years.

The approaching end of summer also brings notices from folks who are planning to leave our town for the winter months. Lots of address changes are in the works, as we try to keep the various mailing lists up to date and keep track of who is where.

One address which won’t change is mine. My biggest worry has been having to relocate, but the landlord has given me a reprieve and I’ll be at the same place through the winter. Although the new senior housing has opened up on my road, the facility is filled and many are on the waiting list (many means upwards of 100, the last I heard). We have a lot of older folks in Windham, where the average household is 2.4 people.

While a contingent of property tax critics are working on the tax issue, few seem to be concerned about the scarcity of affordable housing for senior citizens in the local area. If a hundred people are on waiting lists, the message couldn’t be much more clear. Several years ago, a committee on which I served (Affordable Housing Committee) predicted this problem would arise, and several studies since then have confirmed that there’s a need, but little is done about it. My fear is that all the older people in town will be living in nearby communities before long. Some already have moved. When I ask folks why they have moved, most tell me they it’s because they can no longer do the maintenance on their homes, nor find someone to help them; or that they don’t need such a big place, but can not find anything here in town.

What are your thoughts on this issue? Contact me via email at kaylrw@adelphia.net or kaysoldier@aol.com, or write to me at 111 Tandberg Trail. We’d love to know what you think.

Enjoy the rest of August and we’ll see you in September.