Okay, I apologize. In the recent article about the American Legion’s Flag Project, I neglected to include the address where donations can be sent. Please, if you want to help, mail donations to: American Legion, PO Box 1776, Windham, Maine 04062 and mark your check or envelope with the words Flag Project.

We hope by spring we’ll see flags all up and down our busy highways. Personally, I cannot imagine anyone not wanting to donate to this worthy cause.

When I was watching the program on Maine Public Broadcasting Network about World War II, I was reminded of how important our American flag has always been and will always be, at least to certain generations. Maybe once people see flags on the roads, they’ll remember to put a flag out on holidays and also to remove their hats when appropriate, at town parades. I think respect for the flag is sometimes lacking.

Windham is one town, not separate towns for north and south. Seems like I explain this at least once a week to someone, usually to someone who lives here. But last week, a couple of women from Texas visited the historical society on their quest for information about their maiden name, which happens to be Windham, and they wanted to know if there were two towns. They came to Maine for lobster but saw the name Windham on a map and drove here hoping to find that our town was named for a long lost ancestor of theirs. I explained that actually Windham was named for a town in England, though the Brit spelling is a little different. It wasn’t so easy to explain why, on a road map they had, there were designations for South Windham and North Windham. Oh well, cartography was never my strong suit.

I’ll definitely be at the Food Pantry yard sale on Sat., Oct. 13. It runs from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. and a special feature will be holiday gifts and decorations, as well as furniture, books, videos and many other items. All proceeds benefit the Food Pantry and even if you avoid yard sales, everyone can use a book or two, so stop by and help a most worthy cause. No matter what the census says, not every household in Windham is considered an upper income household! The Food Pantry (and its neighbor, the Clothes Closet) fills a real need in a town where hundreds of people, dozens of families, exist on minimum income. Remember, the average Social Security check in Maine is just a little over $850 a month. We’ve got a lot of seniors in town who receive a lot less than that. So, visit the yard sale and/or make a donation to help out!

The possums are back in my neighborhood. What a ratty looking critter! Don’t leave anything edible around outdoors, if you live anywhere near a stand of trees (or woods, as we used to call them). The creature I most recently saw was cleaning up residue off an outdoors grill, which I have since cleaned and covered up. The moose hasn’t been back lately, but I’m always amazed at the wild animals which linger this close to Route 115. It’s a wonder we don’t have more roadkill, given the speed that seems to govern the road. It’s a good thing we have a sidewalk and I wish more of the youngsters who ride bikes would stick closer to the sidewalk and take those earphones out of their ears!

Speaking of bike-riding kids, too bad they don’t have a BMX ramp or two where they could practice. It’s kind of difficult to avoid them when they’re riding all over the Shaw’s parking lot, doing their jumps! It’s especially dangerous when the adults are ignoring the stop signs when they’re leaving Wal-Mart and coming to the grocery store lot.

It appears plans for a town park is on hold, just when I was beginning to think that by next summer we seniors would have a nice public place to get together and visit, or get some exercise outdoors that didn’t involve an organized game. We don’t all like to go to the Maine Mall to walk. I realize we can go to the high school and walk but how convenient is that? Sure, we have sidewalks here and there, but most of our roads are too dangerous to walk on. It’s easy for me to understand why some of our senior citizens feel invisible and that their needs are not addressed. It reminds me of the many years town government “studied” the need for subsidized senior housing, while senior citizens left town to live somewhere else.

If we’re going to develop every nook and cranny (and country road and field), we should be thinking about where the kids will play. I don’t think they all stay home and watch television or surf the Internet.

See you next week.