DEAR SUN SPOTS: Thank you for your helpful information. I have been reading lately of gold star mothers. How does one get information about them?

I received a gold star pin from the government back in 1943, but no information came with it. I had lost my husband in action in World War II. Thank you. — Hazel, Auburn

ANSWER: Sun Spots started by going to www.goldstarmoms.com, which said Gold Star Mothers Inc. is “an organization of mothers who have lost a son or daughter in the service of our country.”

There is a great deal of information on the group at this site, including a lengthy history. Wikipedia offers the same information but more concisely:

“The Gold Star Mothers was founded by Grace Darling Seibold of Washington, D.C. Her son, 1st Lt. George Vaughn Seibold, was killed in aerial combat over France in August, 1918. Mrs. Seibold was already doing volunteer service in a veteran’s hospitals. After her son’s death, she continued this work, and also began organizing a group of other women who had lost their sons in the war. The mothers did volunteer work together, and served as a support network for one another.

“On June 4, 1928, the members of the club decided to establish it as a national organization. They incorporated in Washington, D.C., under the name of American Gold Star Mothers Inc.”

According to goldstarmoms.com: “‘Gold star mothers’ is a term that came into general use with the creation of the service flags used to show that a family had a son in the service (a blue star) or a son that had died in the service (a gold star almost covering the blue star so that a rim of blue still shows). Mothers of slain servicemen came to be known as gold star mothers. The phrase is sometimes capitalized, but this is incorrect because it is not the proper name of any organization. The phrase is generic and, through customary usage has come to designate any mother whose child has been lost in war.”

The gold star pin you received as the widow of a serviceman was provided by the U.S. Department of Defense, not the official mother’s group. They are provided to various family members according to DOD guidelines.

Also noted on Wikipedia was this: “In early September 2005, Gold Star Mothers accepted its first noncitizen — Carmen Palmer of Mount Vernon, N.Y., who was born in Jamaica — as a member. The group had banned noncitizens for the first 77 years of its existence, most notably rejecting the application of Ligaya Lagman whose son Anthony was killed while serving in Afghanistan. Palmer’s son, Marine Cpl. Bernard Gooden, died in 2003 in Iraq at age 22.”

DEAR SUN SPOTS: We would like to know the name and contact information for the lady who used to groom the animals at the Kennel Shop at the Lewiston Mall. I believe she has her own shop now. She used to clip our hairless cat Tito’s nails and did a great job. If she is out there, please let us know. — Jim and Carmella, Sabattus

ANSWER: The most recent information Sun Spots has on Kate Pastore is that her number is 240-4796, and her e-mail is [email protected]

DEAR SUN SPOTS: I am looking for a couple of items for gifts that can’t seem to be found anymore. I’m hoping some readers might have either of them.

I’m looking for “Yogi Bear’s Christmas” on either VHS or DVD. And I’m looking for the first Jackass baseball hat with the crashed grocery cart on the front.

Thank you for all your help. — Emma-Rose, South Paris, [email protected]

ANSWER: Sun Spots didn’t find “Yogi Bear’s Christmas,” but both “Yogi’s First Christmas” and “Yogi Bear’s All-Star Comedy Christmas Caper” are available from Amazon.com, with a used VHS for $9.95.

As for the caps, there are pages of them available at www.cafepress.com, but Sun Spots didn’t find the one you described. They also sell these hats at Amazon, but, again, not that specific one.

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