DEAR SUN SPOTS: You did it again! Thank you so much for the appliance repair listings. Brown’s Appliance was just here during the latest storm and repaired my stove and microwave. I thought I’d have to get the microwave replaced. He was very knowledgeable and the cost was reasonable. I will call them again if the need should arise. You are a wonderful community resource. — Sue, Lewiston

ANSWER: I feel so blessed when a reader gets back to me to let me know I was helpful. In this instance, I have personally done business with Jon Brown. I have a 32-year-old Maytag washer that needed a small part. He not only fixed it quickly and cost-effectively but recommended that I keep hanging on to the machine, saying, “They don’t make ‘em like that anymore!”

DEAR SUN SPOTS: I was wondering what happened to Jon C of WGME I Team. — Rudy, no town

ANSWER: As everyone knows, news personalities tend to move around a bit and sometimes even change career paths. After being at WGME for 10 years and after a total of 17 years in TV news, the former chief investigative reporter and news anchor Jon Crisos joined the Portland law firm Bernstein Shur as marketing and communications Manager last fall. He’s still around and has a Facebook page where he keeps everyone apprised of what he’s up to. He can also be reached at jcrisos@bernsteinshur.com.

DEAR SUN SPOTS: I would be interested in working on a local election campaign. How does one get involved with this? Do even small elections, such as the school board, have campaigns that one could help with? — No name, no town

ANSWER: The first thing I would do is some research into who you would like to support and reach out to them and let them know you’re interested in volunteering.

Or if you hear of a campaign starting up and you’d like to get involved with it, let them know you want to help. It’s easy to find their contact information through their group’s website, whether they be a member of the school board, are serving a municipality or county as a selectman or other officer, or are serving at the state level.

You can also let your friends and others you encounter know this is something you’d like to pursue. A place you could start is volunteering to register voters at election time just to get your feet wet.

Be thinking about what you’d like to do to support the candidate of your choosing and be realistic about how many hours you have to volunteer your time. Think about what tasks you would want to do, whether it be working the phones, canvassing in neighborhoods or downtown, getting signatures to put your candidate on the ballot, data entry, or working on fundraising opportunities.

Here’s another idea: rather than work on a campaign for a specific individual, you may want to volunteer with activists who work on a specific issue or cause. Allow your interests and the available time you have to guide you.

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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