DEAR SUN SPOTS: Many holidays, such as St. Patrick’s Day, Valentine’s Day and Christmas, fall on the same day each year, but Easter changes days, even months. Why?

Also, could you tell me if NASCAR driver Michael Waltrip is still married?

And why do they advertise Red Lobster restaurants in Maine when there’s none in the state? 

Thank you. — Logger’s wife, Peru

ANSWER: Sun Spots found the following explanation at catholicism.about.com. She has edited it a bit for length.

“Easter is a movable feast, which means that it does not occur on the same date every year. The Council of Nicaea (A.D. 325) set the date of Easter as the Sunday following the paschal full moon, which is the full moon that falls on or after the vernal (spring) equinox.

“Easter must always occur on a Sunday, because Sunday was the day of Christ’s Resurrection. … (T)he paschal full moon was the date of Passover in the Jewish calendar, and the Last Supper (Holy Thursday) occurred on the Passover. Therefore, Easter was the Sunday after Passover.

“The church does not use the exact date of the paschal full moon but an approximation, because the paschal full moon can fall on different days in different time zones, which would mean that the date of Easter would be different depending on which time zone you live in. For calculation purposes, the full moon is always set at the 14th day of the lunar month (the lunar month begins with the new moon). Likewise, the church sets the date of the vernal equinox at March 21, even though it can occur on March 20. Both approximations allow the church to set a universal date for Easter.

“Still, Easter isn’t celebrated universally on that date. While Western Christians use the Gregorian calendar (the calendar that’s used throughout the West today, in both the secular and religious worlds) to calculate the date of Easter, the Eastern Orthodox continue to use the older, astronomically inaccurate Julian calendar. Currently, March 21 on the Julian calendar falls on April 3 in the Gregorian calendar. Therefore, for the Orthodox, the Sunday following the 14th day of the paschal full moon has to fall after April 3, hence the discrepancy in the date of Easter.”

As for Waltrip, wiki.answers.com says he was divorced from Elizabeth “Buffy” Franks in 2010.

Sun Spots cannot be sure about Red Lobster, but she suspects that it’s because the company paid for a national advertising campaign. If the local affiliates wanted to replace those ads — and had permission to do so — they’d have to find a replacement advertiser. That isn’t always easy in today’s markets.

Plus, many people travel. Perhaps seeing a Red Lobster ad in Maine will encourage them to try the chain in another state.

DEAR SUN SPOTS: For the person looking for old music, I set my computer to Pandora Internet Radio’s ’40s station for my 95-year-old grandmother. She loves it! I also recommend that station to ballroom dancing friends, lots of good dance music from those days! — lane_karen@hotmail.com

ANSWER: Sun Spots checked out Pandora.com. She didn’t get a result from search for the 1940s, but she hit pay dirt with “big band.” Listeners could also search for a specific song or artist; the site will then direct you to similar songs and artists in that genre.

DEAR SUN SPOTS: I have some suggestions for two of your readers who wrote March 6 looking for lyrics to old songs and valuation for old records. Both readers may be interested to know that the Franco-American Collection at USM’s Lewiston-Auburn College has a substantial collection of sheet music, lyrics and vinyl recordings of French and French-Canadian tunes from the 20th century. Anyone is welcome to browse our selection for free.

If the reader looking to value their records is not successful in getting a good price for them, he could always donate them to an historic organization. In addition to the collection, which is looking for French music, there is the Bagaduce Music Lending Library in Blue Hill, Maine, which collects sheet music and records. Their website is www.bagaducemusic.org/.

For more information about the collection and its music, readers can contact me at 207-753-6545 or franco@usm.maine.edu. — James Myall, coordinator, USM’s Franco-American Collection

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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