DEAR SUN SPOTS: Did anyone find a silver chain with a cross and gold man’s wedding ring at Androscoggin Bank on Sabattus Street or the South Avenue post office on Friday, Dec. 28? They have sentimental value. Reward offered. — 783-1865

DEAR SUN SPOTS: I have a question about the Androscoggin Bank Colisee in Lewiston and their ticketing method when the Portland Pirates play.

It is difficult to get good seats, and they usually only have standing-room or bleacher seats (top row bench seats with no back) available. But when game time comes, there are about 500 “good” open seats.

Do this many people buy tickets and not show up? Are these seats for sponsors who didn’t use them? For each game I end up buying bleacher seats and about 10 minutes into the game we move to open seats. I hear a lot of people complaining about all the open seats. — Peter via email

ANSWER: Sun Spots thought this would be a difficult question to answer, but her first contact, Jim Mercier, box office manager for the Colisee, responded promptly:

“Thank you, Peter, for your support of the Pirates this season! The empty seats at the Androscoggin Bank Colisee have been a challenge for us, which we have been working to solve.

“Many of the empty seats for those games belong to Pirates full-season ticket holders. We have contacted these subscribers directly and have emphasized the impact of no-shows at the games, especially with tickets being in such high demand at the Colisee.

“As soon as a season ticket holder communicates to us that they are not using their tickets, we release them for public sale, which is the best that we can do. We suggest you check on seat availability soon, as more tickets have been returned for public sale recently.

“The Pirates are working on making sure that all tickets for the game on Feb. 17 will be utilized and have contacted our season ticket holders once again in order to do so.

“We hope to see you at the Colisee for our final game this season, and thanks again for communicating with us.”

DEAR SUN SPOTS: I am writing to thank Sun Spots and your readers for the generous response I received to my letter requesting help with the holiday gift drive for New Beginnings (www.newbeginmaine.org).

Following my Nov. 5 note in Sun Spots, I received an outpouring of calls from businesses and members of the community willing to donate.

Thanks to all of you, I am happy to report that we reached our goal! We distributed more than 80 hygiene gift bags to all of the youth in our shelter, housing and outreach programs.

Community support is vital to help us keep teens off the streets and moving toward a positive future.

Thank you so much for helping make the holidays brighter for the youth served by New Beginnings. — Rachel Spencer-Reed, program development director, rachel@newbeginmaine.org

DEAR SUN SPOTS: Much thanks for your and Corey’s work in following up on my question of the early 1970s Christmas story about Juniper Perper (Jan. 2, 5). The “somebody else” who “compiled links to all the chapters” really did it right, saving a great deal of time from researching archives.

I have forwarded the website to my son, who vividly remembered the title character but not much of the story. He’s planning to read it next Christmas to his youngest daughter.

It’s the little things in life that can often give the greatest joy. Thank you for mine! — Steve Marsden stemars@roadrunner.com

ANSWER: You are most welcome. Sun Spots shared your thanks with Corey. Read on for another source for the stories.

DEAR SUN SPOTS: The Juniper Perper material (Jan. 2 query) was copyrighted in 2009 by a Dr. Nancy Hector and can be found in print or Kindle form from Amazon. — J Roundy, jroundy24@yahoo.com

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 emailed to sunspots@sunjournal.com.

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