DEAR SUN SPOTS: Museum L-A is looking for any information about the horse troughs that were once in the streets of Lewiston and Auburn. Two of the Lewiston downtown troughs have been found, but there’s still a mystery surrounding the remaining two that were located in Auburn. One was located in the area of what is now Washington Street and Minot Avenue; the other was on Turner Street.

A postcard shows one of the missing horse troughs in front of the pumping station in Auburn, but no photographs have been recovered for the second trough.

The Museum is hoping the readers might be able to provide information about these troughs, their historic uses, and their current locations. If you have any information, please contact Emma Sieh at 207-333-3881 or esieh@museumla.org.

— Kathy, no town

ANSWER: it would be so awesome if this mystery was solved! Museum L-A is located in the Bates Mill Complex at 35 Canal St. in Lewiston. Its hours are Tuesday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Special tour requests and large group tours outside of these hours are available by appointment. For more information, contact info@museumla.org or call 207-333-3881.

DEAR SUN SPOTS: Regarding all the memories of WCOU requested by Sun Spots, sometime during the mid-1950s when I was 15 or 16 years old and a self-taught, not-very-good piano player, a stage mother contacted me to accompany her daughter on WCOU. The mother managed to secure 15-minute broadcasts on Monday evenings. She told me her daughter wanted to become a professional singer.

We’d rehearse on Sunday evenings at their house, put a program together and perform on Monday evenings. We managed to get through three or four broadcasts and things were going well until one evening while waiting to go on the air, I was fooling around on the piano, just wasting time, and not watching the engineer as he signed us on.

Needless to say when the segment went out over the air, it wasn’t pretty. This was the end of our radio show. I believe the young girl’s name was Shirley MacMillan and the engineer that evening may have been Carroll Dean.

— Nel, no town

ANSWER: Oh dear, that doesn’t sound good, but it made me laugh! Thanks for sharing!

DEAR SUN SPOTS: The show “Get a Room with Thom (Felicia) and Carson (Cressley)” used to be on Friday nights. I think it is now on Saturdays. Thom and Carson used to be on “Queer Eye for the Straight Guy.” They’re part of the Fab Five: Ted Allen for food and wine, Thom Felicia for interior design, Carson Cressley for fashion and the other two guys took care of culture, and health and grooming. What are their names? And what does “catch up on demand” mean?

—No name, Lewiston

ANSWER: “Get a Room with Thom and Carson” now airs on Bravo  Saturdays at 10 p.m. The two actors you’re trying to remember are Jai Rodriguez, who was in charge of culture, and Kyan Douglas was the grooming guru.

As far as “catching up on demand” goes, call your cable TV provider to see if that option is available with your plan. If you have a “smart” TV, you can also stream shows.

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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