WINDHAM – While it’s often said that kids have little to do, Windham resident Glenn Lynds sees a need for the town’s senior citizen population, and he’s trying his best to fill it.

After Tim Hortons closed in November, Lynds’ first thought was for the seniors who had grown accustomed to sharing their morning cup of coffee. Where would they go to socialize? What would they do?

In an effort to provide an answer to those questions, Lynds, 65, is spearheading an effort, which has gained some steam within town, to bring some sort of senior center to the town, so seniors can recreate, perhaps play a game of cards, drink coffee and relax as they once did at Tim Hortons.

“I’ve lived in several states, and in my travels as a salesperson I went into doughnut shops and McDonald’s, and when you go into any of these places early in the morning, you see senior citizens there,” Lynds said. “That’s where they go to chit-chat and have their coffee and socialize. So when I saw the recent restaurant closures in the paper, I knew seniors would be affected by that.”

Lynds and about eight others met last month to begin talking about the feasibility of a Windham senior center. Last Wednesday, the group, which doesn’t have a name yet, met again at the Windham Veterans Center to come up with survey questions that are being sent out this week to several hundred local seniors seeking their input on the senior center concept.

The questions mostly ask seniors to rank what services they’d like to see incorporated, whether they would require transportation to events, and whether they would be willing to pay for attending events. Windham’s Parks and Recreation Director, Brian Ross, who was also in attendance, was put in charge of drawing up the final survey and mailing it out.

“This is the first step to see what interest there is,” Ross said.

The deadline for returning the surveys is Feb. 18. Call Ross at 892-1905 for a copy of the survey. After deadline, Diane Leavitt’s Business Simulation class at Windham High School will tabulate the results.

‘Senior center ?without walls’

While the ultimate goal is a center of their own, initial discussions and budgetary reality, Lynds says, has steered the group away from the idea of creating a full-blown senior center, due to the costs involved. In its place, Lynds said, is a “senior center without walls” concept. The goal, he said, would be to provide a central clearinghouse for all events going on in the area, from church activities and bean suppers to activities at Unity Gardens and other senior living facilities in town.

“There are things going on all over the place for seniors, and no one knows what the other one is doing,” Lynds said.

There are few public buildings that could be used as a senior center. One, the Windham Veterans Center, was initially a logical spot for a senior center, Lynds said, but since the Windham Veterans Association, which operates the 2,000-square-foot hall, rents the space out on a regular basis, Lynds and veterans association president Don Swander agreed the required set-up and take-down of chairs and tables would be burdensome for the elderly population.

Despite the logistical difficulties, Lynds, who is a member of the Dundee Park Advisory Committee since he lives on land adjacent to the park, is determined to provide something for seniors. He hasn’t given up on the idea of having a building, and hopes a generous benefactor comes forward.

“It’s like a car. I’m turning the switch on. Where it goes and who’s in it, I have no idea,” Lynds said. “There is an endless list of things that we can have, though. My vision is to have more of the activities. I want to open it up as far as we can, but we can’t do everything. In our center-with-no-walls concept we can at least get out information.”

Kay Soldier, a columnist for this newspaper and longtime senior advocate, is eager to see Lynds’ vision succeed. Soldier used to edit a newsletter sent to Windham seniors, but it was cut from the town budget several years ago.

“The former newsletter the town provided via the Human Resources Committee was a wonderful, popular asset in maintaining outreach to Windham’s large and growing senior citizen population,” Soldier said. “People asked to be added to the mailing list, which I maintained, and when last used had more than 350 names of Windham seniors.”

Soldier sees a need for a local senior center or the pared-down “senior center without walls” and hears from people regularly who would benefit from one.

“In short, yes, we need a senior center for many reasons, not the least of which is to provide communication of local resource availability, especially to those living alone,” she said. “I get calls every week from someone needing information and they remember I used to write about it in the newsletter.”