DEAR SUN SPOTS: Once again, AARP Tax-Aide will provide free income tax preparation services for low/moderate income taxpayers for the 2025 filing season. Beginning the week of Feb. 5, our experienced IRS Certified Tax Volunteers will be preparing and electronically filing federal and Maine income tax returns. 

We will be working at Sacred Heart Church at the corner of Minot and Western avenues in Auburn. The street address is 8 Sacred Heart Place. 

This service is by appointment only and all ages are welcome. You do not have to be a member of AARP to use this service. 

Our appointment line is open. Appointments may be made by calling 513-3170 and leaving a message on our voicemail. Please be sure to clearly say your name,  spell it if it is a difficult one, then say and repeat your phone number. 

Our scheduler will call you back to set up your time. Be sure that you will have all your tax information ready for the date you choose. We will also have a group of preparers who will prepare Maine Property and Sales Tax Credit returns over the telephone. Please check your paperwork from last year to make sure that all we prepared for you was the 1040-ME. If so, we can do your return over the phone and that will save you a trip to the site. — No name, Lewiston

ANSWER: This is great information and I’m sure there will be many Sun Spotters wanting to take advantage of this free service. Thank you to all the preparers who volunteer their time and energy to this program. It’s a wonderful thing that this is still happening year after year. 

DEAR SUN SPOTS: In 1926, my grandmother bought a new Janssen New York player piano. Through the years, this piano was passed down to my father then to my brother and me. 

There has not been a lot of repair work done on this piano. For some time now, the piano pumps very hard and is not playing the music the way it should. I have not been successful in finding a person who repairs them. 

Do you have anyone in your Rolodex that repairs these pianos, or is there someone in Sun Spots Land who does this or knows someone who does? If so, please contact me at 645-4578 or 320-1085.

Thank you for all you do, Ms. Sun Spots, including researching for all of us in Sun Spots Land. — Don, Wilton

ANSWER: Contact Starbird Piano (775-2733), Friends of the Kotzschmar Organ (553-4363) for referrals to technicians specializing in player pianos.

You can also contact the Piano Technicians Guild (PTG) to find registered piano technicians that offer restoration and repair for complex instruments like player pianos. Go to https://portal.ptg.org/technician/find and type in your ZIP code. 

Another idea is to ask any antique dealers in your area. They may have contacts that can help you. Sun Spotters, if you know of someone, speak up. Let us know what happens, Don! 

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 [email protected].