From Reed: Make It Easier to Give Up the Car Keys

When an 86-year old voter struck and critically injured an 8-year old girl in Randolph on Super Tuesday, many in our state called for mandatory driver testing for the elderly. Unfortunately, this response alone would not fully solve the problem.  The real question at hand is:  How do we provide reasonable transportation options to those who can neither drive nor easily navigate public transportation, nor afford a taxi?  

Across the country today, citizens who fall into this category are dependent on the generosity of family, friends, neighbors and under-funded Councils on Aging in order to get out and about.  Beyond public transportation, local services available are usually limited to "critical only" rides.  The Randolph Council on Aging, for example, has two vans that are fully booked getting seniors to doctors' appointments.   

We all have tragically few transportation options if we wish to age with dignity in our homes and also maintain an enjoyable lifestyle. Visits to friends, theaters, libraries, shopping malls- or the polls- should not be coveted luxuries.  For many of us, public transportation does not always meet the mark. The closest bus-stop to the polling where the Super Tuesday accident occurred is about .3 miles away.  That's a 10-minute walk for most of us. Many an elderly neighbor, though, would find this distance difficult or treacherous, especially on a day as icy and stormy as Super Tuesday was.  

Transportation for all of us as we age is not just a convenience. It is a critical link back to our communities and vital to our ability to control our own lives.

Rather than spending money making it difficult for seniors to drive, why not spend it making it easier for them to give up driving?  Councils on aging, community transportation agencies, and even for- profit agencies are working to create inexpensive options that span 24 hours and all kinds of destinations.  Policy-makers might better spend their dollars funding organizations- across sectors- that can solve the larger problem.

As long as not driving means being stranded, we are all going to try to stay behind the wheel.  

SCM has teamed up with the Cantata Singers to create a special evening event on Friday, May 9. 

For $20, you can attend the finale of the 2007-2008 season commemorating Kurt Weill. Door-to-door transportation by SCM is included in your ticket price. SCM's Executive Director and perhaps a few board members plan to come along as well.  Bring friends: We have plenty of buses!

Noted for compelling programming, exceptional artistry, and eloquent performances, the Cantata Singers offers Boston-area audiences a range of musical events, consistently recognized as engaging, nuanced and penetrating. For more about the Cantata Singers, visit www.cantatasingers.org.

The performance will be held at the New England Conservatory of music at 8 p.m.  Works are Weill's Symphony No.2 and Charles Fussell's High Bridge- A Choral Symphony after Poems of Hart Crane.  

To buy tickets, call 617-868-5885 by May 6.  Ask for the SCM discount. 

Attention Somerville and Cambidge shoppers: You've spoken and we've listened!  As of June 1st, 2008 SCM will be expanding our weekly grocery shopping service for Somerville and Cambridge residents, offering more options to even more shopping locations.  Call one of our reservationists at 617-625-1191, anytime between 9am and 1pm, Monday through Friday, to find out where we'll be taking your neighborhood grocery shopping and on what day of the week.

Peru, Argentina, Italy, Vietnam, Guatemala, Haiti...  Sounds like an impressive list of places that SCM rider Walter Wells may have vacationed?  Guess again.  He's lived in all of them! As a former Public Affairs Officer and Cultural Attaché for the United States Department of State, he made his career promoting cultural understanding between the United States and other countries.  He was even decorated with the Order of Merit of the ItalianRepublic, Italy's largest order of knighthood.  Quite a resume.

This 92-year-old lover of opera and theater lives in Cambridge... for now.  And while it's not quite as romantic as traveling to Rome (we're working on it Walter!), local transportation is still a vital part of his everyday life.  Whether it's to a medical appointment in Boston or grocery shopping just down the street, SCM does the trick by providing Walter with what he calls "a very effective service."  We sure think so too.

So, knighted in Italy?  When I asked him if I needed to call him Cavaliere (Italy's equivalent to Sir), he said, "No.  You could just genuflect!"  I decided for the former option.

SCM is glad to keep Cavaliere Walter Wells the well-travelled man.

SCM is proud to make Al Paquet its Employee of the Quarter.  Al has been a Driver for SCM for exactly two years.  He has been an enormous asset to the company, working part time, but always there when we need him to help out.  He lives in Somerville, just around the corner from our home base.  Al is constantly upbeat, always ready with a joke and a smile for clients and co-workers alike.  His passengers love him, and client-programs rave about his attitude and professionalism.  Al is just one of many caring, conscientious employees at SCM, and we are proud to recognize him this spring.