Dear Sun Spots: Thank you for all your wonderful information. It is greatly appreciated. Who or where can I contact about information on Healey Orphanage, for boys, which existed some 50 to 60 years ago? It was on Ash Street. We are trying to find information about a boy who lived there. Thanks a lot. – C.C., Lewiston.
Answer: Sun Spots answered a similar query in the April 30, 2005, column which referred to a Jan. 13, 2005, article by business writer Carol Coultas.
The current Intown Manor on Ash Street, a residential care facility, is a brick-and-granite building on the National Register of Historic Places. It is the site of the former Healey Asylum. It was built in 1892 by the Catholic order of the Grey Nuns as an orphanage and named for Bishop James A. Healey of Portland. It operated as an orphanage until 1973, when it became a boarding home. It was scheduled to close this year.
Sun Journal News Assistant Anna Rodrigue discovered many articles on the building. Thanks to her research, Sun Spots has learned that on the day the Healey Asylum opened in 1893, there were 100 beds and but one child. More children soon came, and according to an April 20, 1943, article from The Lewiston Daily Sun, the home later cared for hundreds of boys. According to the article, its capacity at the time was 180, and it cared for boys from 3 to 12 years old from across the state. “They receive care as near like home care as the Sisters can provide, schooling, and supervised recreation. If their parents are living, the boys may visit them from Saturday to Sunday evening,” the article stated. According to a Jan. 23, 1945, article in the Lewiston Evening Journal, a partial state of quarantine was in effect, with about 19 of the about 175 at the home being kept under observation in the Lewiston Health Department’s efforts to prevent any outbreak of a scarlet fever epidemic like the one that closed many schools in Augusta.
If you are interested, you may learn more by looking at the newspapers on film at both Lewiston and Auburn Public libraries.
Dear Sun Spots: Thank you for the daily information you provide for your readers. It is both interesting and educational.
My husband and I often eat at the Cole Farm Restaurant in Gray. They make the very best grape nut custard pudding I have ever had. Would it be possible for you to get their recipe? If not, I would appreciate any other recipe for this desert. Thank you in advance for your help in this matter. – Brenda Theriault, Greene.
Answer: In addition to responses from readers, unfortunately Sun Spots was not able to receive a response. In the meantime perhaps you and your family will enjoy the following recipe from www.cooks.com:
Grape nut custard pudding. Ingredients: 2 cups scalded milk, ½ cup grape nuts cereal, 1 beaten egg, 4 tbs. sugar, ½ tsp. salt, 2 tbs. butter, 1 tsp. vanilla extract. Method: Pour hot milk over grape nuts in a glass baking dish. Let stand 10 minutes covered. Beat egg and sugar together and pour into grape nuts. Add salt, vanilla and butter. Stir. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.
Dear Sun Spots: In response to the July 29, 2005, column:
I also watched the “Oprah” show on May 3 and took many notes. For skin use we should use skin creams with (AHA) alpha hydroxy acid. One I purchased was by Neutrogena with 8 percent AHA. It’s possible that Oil of Olay also makes a skin cream with AHA. – No Name, No Town.
This column is for you, our readers. It is for your questions and comments. There are only two rules: You must write to the column and sign your name (we won’t use it if you ask us not to). Letters will not be returned or answered by mail, and telephone calls will not be accepted. Your letters will appear as quickly as space allows. Address them to Sun Spots, P.O. Box 4400, Lewiston, ME 04243-4400. Inquiries can also be posted at www.sunjournal.com in the Advice section under Opinion on the left-hand corner of your computer screen. In addition, you can e-mail your inquiries to [email protected].
Comments are no longer available on this story