Dear Sun Spots: In the 100-year-old news in a November “Looking Back” column, there was an article about the Clan Campbell having a Halloween party at Campbell Hall in Lewiston. Being the Clan Campbell commissioner for the state of Maine, I was wondering what happened to the Clan Campbell hall and records? Did they just dissolve? Where did everybody go? The Clan Campbell Society of Maine started meeting again during the 1980s, and for the last few years we have held our gathering at Thomas Point Beach in Brunswick, where all Scottish clans gather, not just the Campbells. If anybody has any information, I would love to hear from them. Thanks. I can be reached at 4 School Brook Road, Bethel, ME 04217-4830. – Joe Campbell, Bethel.

Dear Sun Spots: I hope your recent letter writer seeking a lobster stew recipe will enjoy the following. This is from “Cooking Down East” by Marjorie Standish. My mother always used this recipe, and it was great stew. – Evelyn Ehrenfried, Lewiston.

Ingredients and method: Boil two one-pound lobsters, and remove meat immediately, saving the tomalley (or liver), the coral and the thick white substance from inside the shell. Using a heavy kettle, simmer tomalley and coral in ½ cup of butter for about 8 minutes. Add lobster meat, cut in fairly large pieces. Cook all together slowly, using low heat for about 10 minutes. Remove from the heat and cool slightly. Then add 1 quart rich milk very slowly, stirring constantly. Allow the stew to stand in the refrigerator for five to six hours before reheating for serving. This is one of the secrets of truly fine flavor. It is called aging. You do not need salt or pepper when the stew is prepared in this manner. For the perfect lobster stew, stirring is the most important thing; otherwise it will curdle. The important steps to success are: first, the partial cooling before ever so gently adding the milk, a trickle at a time, the constant stirring until the stew turns a rich salmon color and finally, the aging. Every hour that it ages improves the flavor. Aging it overnight makes it really good. Be sure to reheat very slowly.

Dear Sun Spots: I am looking for a 1960 yearbook from Mechanic Falls High School for a classmate whose own was lost in a fire. If anyone out there has an extra one, or knows where some may be stored, please call me at 998-4240. We are willing to pay a reasonable price. – Fern C. Bosse, Poland.

Dear Sun Spots: We have a wonderful, heartwarming, tear-jerking story to tell. Part of the story might also make the Guinness Book of Records. Our question is: Who would we contact to either promote this story for a movie or TV movie or find an author who would like to write this story for a book? It is definitely a one-of-a-kind story. Any information you can give us will be greatly appreciated. Your column is great, and we appreciate all the help you give everyone. – No Name, No Town.

Answer: Guinness World Records Ltd. is based in London. Any postal correspondence should be addressed to Guinness World Records Ltd., 8th Floor, 338 Euston Road, London NW1 3BD, England. In addition, you can submit your inquiry online on their Web site at www.guinnessworldrecords.com

Regarding your search for an author, if you are seeking a local writer, you might want to contact the Maine Writers and Publishers Alliance, 318 Glickman Family Library, University of Southern Maine, P.O. Box 9301, 314 Forest Ave., Portland, ME 04104, 228-8263 or via e-mail at info@mainewriters.org to discuss placing an ad in the alliance’s publication, “Maine in Print.”

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 sunspots@sunjournal.com


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