Along with hundreds of others, I visited the Elders Expo last week in Portland. Southern Maine Agency on Aging’s annual event was a huge success, from the comments overheard while wandering around.

At the antique appraisal table I discovered my favorite little basket was made from sweetgrass and valued at about $75 – so you won’t see it in any yard sale this summer. My brother-in-law found out that an old car ornament is also a valuable treasure.

Information pamphlets and advice was available free of charge from a variety of resources including the state’s Bureau of Elder Services, Veterans Administration, financial institutions, medical resources, retirement homes, nutrition sources, adult daycare, travel agencies and so much more!

An event like this is a wonderful opportunity to get information without making a commitment. Next time, I’ll remember to take along about 100 of my little return address labels, because every booth and display there, it seems, had a door prize or a drawing of some kind. (I’m still waiting for the call to tell me what I’ve won!)

And let’s face it, arthritic hands may do well on a computer keyboard, but writing your name and address 50 times makes it difficult to hold a tray of chocolate covered marshmallows! Yes, one retirement home’s booth had these goodies to offer.

Many vendors had magnetized cards, which are convenient to put on a refrigerator, but I caution you about putting them anywhere near your computer or a CD or other type of disc. Magnets can wipe the information right off and you’ll never be able to retrieve it, so far as I know.

One thing I discovered at the expo was that there’s a big market for employing seniors. If I didn’t already have a couple of part-time jobs, I could have been hired on the spot!

An employment agency which had a booth at the expo, told me they’re actively recruiting older people. This is a temporary agency and one for which I’ve worked in the past. The wonderful thing about working through a temp agency is you don’t have to make a commitment to the employer as does a “regular” employee. Generally, any company which needs temporary help is very happy to see the temps come through the door. I will be finding out more about this aspect of senior life – working part time – and be writing about it in the near future.

There are many opportunities for seniors to volunteer and share their expertise with others, but the bottom line is that most of us have to work, at least part time, during retirement to keep up with the ever-increasing medical costs and basic living expenses. Job opportunities for older workers aren’t generally headlined in this fashion because it isn’t politically correct in this day and age.

Newsletters just for senior citizens are becoming more popular. At the Elders Expo we had a long conversation with a young woman from a neighboring town, about the value of communicating in a more effective way with older residents. She said the idea of a newsletter for that community’s seniors had been discussed and we shared with her how popular Windham’s “Senior Voice” has become. (By the way, if you live in Windham and do not receive this bi-monthly newsletter, please contact the town’s Parks & Recreation Department at 892-1905 or e-mail me at kso48@aol.com and add your name to the mailing list.)

About 10 years ago, the town of Windham started producing a newsletter just for seniors. This way of communicating directly to the seniors’ mailboxes has turned out to be a great tool. The newsletter lists most of the resources available locally as well as some others that may be of interest. It also includes up-to-date events of interest to seniors and sometimes commentary from the editor about issues affecting those of a certain age.

All in all, I’d encourage anyone to go to this event if Southern Maine Agency on Aging hosts it again. The site was ideal and no one was “pushy.” According to one of my friends who attended, she collected a lot of material which, as she said, you can review at leisure with a cup of tea, and she added, the “goodies” (pens, pads of paper, pill boxes, sewing kits, first aid kits) were most welcome!