Dear Sun Spots: I am looking to get into grant writing. Are there any classes in the area that would help me in this endeavor? What are the steps that I need to take to get started? Thank you. – T.G., South Paris.

Answer: In addition to responses from readers, you might like to try contacting the following:

Maine Association of Nonprofits, 565 Congress St., Suite 301, Portland, ME 04101, (207) 871-1885, www.nonprofitsmaine.org.

Muskie School of Public Service, University of Southern Maine, P.O. Box 9300, Portland, ME 04104-9300, (207) 780-4430, http://muskie.usm.maine.edu/m_view_course.jsp?id=88.

USM Center for Continuing Education will offer a class on Grant Writing: An Introduction Nov. 1. Please contact them at USM Center for Continuing Education, Abromson Center, P.O. Box 9300, Portland, ME 04104-9300, (207) 780-5900 or 1-800-787-0468, e-mail: [email protected] or via their Web site at www.usm.maine.edu/cce.

Oxford Hills School District Adult Education, 256 Main St., South Paris, ME 04281, (207) 743-8842, press 1.

Association of Fundraising Professionals, 1101 Kind St., Suite 700, Alexandria, VA 22314, (703) 684-0410.

Dear Sun Spots: Love your column. Keep up the good work.

We’re really hoping you can help us. We’ve exhausted our efforts.

We live on Northern Avenue, on the tail end of it where there are no street lights. Would you please find out the right people to contact that would make a real difference here in our neighborhood? Who could expedite this before winter sets in?

We’re located within the city limits and have every right to expect street lights. We have called many departments at Auburn City Hall and left messages, to no avail. Perhaps Sun Spots will have better luck.

The advice page is the first thing I read every day. It is so helpful. Thanks in advance. – P.S., Auburn.

Answer: Sun Spots spoke with city electrician Charlie DeAngelis, who says the process may take a couple of weeks. The city owns and maintains many of the downtown lights. However, those street lights in residential areas are rented from Central Maine Power. The city rents around 2,000 of those lights. You need to send your request in writing to City Manager Patricia Finnigan at Auburn City Building, 60 Court St., Auburn, ME 04210, (207) 333-6600, stating you’d like to have a street light. The letter is then forwarded to the police department and electrician’s department to look into. There are certain guidelines that both have to follow in determining whether a light is in fact warranted. Among the criteria the police department will look at are safety and whether the area is a high-crime area. The electrician’s department will also look at whether the street is intersecting with a dead end, the road is inadequately designed, whether the area is a high-density residential, high-pedestrian area. Both departments will then forward their recommendations to the manager for a decision. Please note, not all requests are granted.

Dear Sun Spots: I was at Healey Asylum. I was there in the early 1930s on the small boys side. There was a fence that kept us apart. As I grew older, I went onto the older boys side. My two sisters worked there to pay for my room and board, and the place had a wall around it so you couldn’t see the outside. The nuns wore big aprons, and they all had a strap in their pocket and knew how to use it. I got spanked on my bare backside, and my friend Roland, better known in the Lewiston area as the Great R.J., got spanked so bad he couldn’t sit down. The reason he got spanked was because he ran away and got it for throwing a button in the air. I’m pushing 83 years old. I was there over 70 years ago. I remember a lot more but can’t help anybody that is looking for 40 or 50 years ago. – Avid Sun Spots Reader, Paul Thibodeau, Brunswick.

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). 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 posted at www.sunjournal.com in the Advice section under Opinion on the left-hand corner of your computer screen. In addition, you can e-mail your inquiries to [email protected].