DEAR SUN SPOTS: Is the High Street Congregational Church going to have their craft supplies sale this year? I have not seen any advertising about it. — No Name via e-mail

ANSWER: Your question and notification about the sale arrived the same week. Read on.

DEAR SUN SPOTS: The High Street Congregational Church, 106 Pleasant St., Auburn, has set Saturday, April 17, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. for this year’s Fabric and Craft Supply Fair.

This is the fair where crafters can rent a table for $15 to sell all the supplies they bought but never used. Or clean out your closet and donate the supplies to be sold at the church’s table. This fair is for fabric and supplies only, not finished products.

For more information or to rent a table, please call Judy McKinney at 753-0367. Donations may be left at the church after March 29. Please call the church at 784-1306 to confirm when someone will be there. Thank you. — Judy McKinney, Auburn

DEAR SUN SPOTS: There must be an organization, technical school or person who would want to disassemble or rebuild “nearly dead” electronics. It’s a shame to trash them at the landfill. Items like an older TV, scanner, VCR unit. I think you may have made a recommendation quite a while back. Thanks for your great work. — Anne in L-A

ANSWER: Sun Spots agrees that it is a waste. Unfortunately, technology is changing so fast that many older electronics have very little value in this country, and the cost of repairing the old when the new items are so relatively inexpensive means that it is unlikely to change. However, more and more electronics are being recycled for the metals and other materials they contain, which is much preferable to landfilling. Shiploads of old electronics are shipped to developing countries where workers (making much less than Americans) disassemble them.

DEAR SUN SPOTS: I have written to you before, and you have helped me a lot. Now I have a problem with my portable TV. It is a Bentley, and it works on batteries or 12 volt with a cigarette lighter plug in or 110 volts with an adaptor. I use it on my boat, but it doesn’t work now. If I had their toll-free number, I could call and find out what is wrong.

Also, I would like to know who carries premium malt extract. Hannaford used to but doesn’t anymore.

P.S. Thank you, Marie, for the pickle recipes. — No Name, No Town

ANSWER: Sun Spots did not find much about your TV online. There was a review of the product from 2006, but nothing about the company. But even if you did locate them, it’s highly unlikely they could, or would, help you over the phone.

You didn’t say when you bought your TV, but assuming your warranty is up, you would be on your own to have it fixed. You could take it to a TV repair shop (there are a couple listed in the phone book). But it would probably cost you more to have them look at it than what the TV is worth. Sun Spots found a Bentley portable, 5-inch screen, black-and-white TV, model 1000A, on eBay for only $15, so maybe that would be the way to go.

As for your malt extract, it is available at Axis Natural Foods, 250 Center St., Auburn, 782-3348.

DEAR SUN SPOTS: This is for the reader inquiring about how she could find sheets for a three-quarter-size bed. The Vermont Country Store has had them in the past. They are not pictured in the catalog, but if she has access to a computer, she can go online at www.vermontcountrystore.com. The telephone number is 1-802-776-5730, fax is 802-362-0285 and the mailing address is P.O. Box 6993, Rutland, VT 05702-6999. Hopefully this will be of help to her. — Ilene Twitchell, Norway

ANSWER: Ilene is correct. They do have a set of 100 percent cotton sheets for $124.95, item number 40358.

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). Please include your phone number. 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 e-mailed to sunspots@sunjournal.com.

Copy the Story Link