DEAR SUN SPOTS: Each May my daughter and I host a Mother-Daughter Tea for our friends and family. In addition to serving tea and treats, we have a number of creative activities planned for our guests. This year we’d like to include quilling, but we don’t have any experience with this type of art. We were hoping there might be an experienced quiller in the L-A area who would consider coming to our tea to teach the guests, in small groups, how to do something simple. We already have all the supplies needed. If interested, please call 576-9820. —Wendy, no town
ANSWER: This sounds wonderfully unique! In case you didn’t know, quilling —or paper filigree —is an art form that has been around for hundreds of years and has recently become popular once again. It involves using thin strips of paper that are rolled, looped, curled and twisted to create designs to embellish greeting cards, pictures, boxes, and even to make jewelry, mobiles, 3-D miniatures, and much more.
If you don’t find someone, there are good how-to videos on YouTube. A real live person would be much better though! Please keep us posted!
DEAR SUN SPOTS: This is in reply to the Feb. 8 Sun Spots regarding the search for Canada Mints and Peach Blossoms. Vermont Country Store carries many old-fashioned brands of candies. Most are original. If not, the description states that they aren’t. If “No name” doesn’t have a computer, the phone number for the store is 1-800- 547-7849 or 1-802- 824-3184. The address is: Vermont Country Store, 657 Main St., Weston, VT 05161 and you can request a catalog. I hope this helps! —Dee, Auburn
ANSWER: I love Vermont Country Store! When my catalog comes in the mail, I look at it from cover to cover. However, when I researched their website at vermontcountrystore.com, I didn’t find Canada Mints or Peach Blossoms in their inventory. I also tried other online candy sites and the Canada Mints in both white and pink are marked, “Out of Stock” on all of them.
Because I have fond memories of my grandmother always having the pink Canada Mints on hand, as well as my piano teacher often having a can of Peach Blossoms amidst the happy hodge-podge on her dining room table, I decided to dig further.
I learned that the Revere, Massachusetts, company Necco (New England Confectionary Company), that made Canada Mints, went through bankruptcy recently and sold off its equipment and intellectual property, putting over 200 employees out of work.
According to articles in the Boston Globe, once everything is settled, the 113- year-old Spangler Candy Company in Bryan, Ohio, will be making Canada Mints as well as the Sweetheart Candy Hearts and “Necco” Wafers we all know and love.
Peach Blossoms (not to be confused with Peach Buds which are a hard peach-flavored candy coated in sugar) are a peanut butter-filled candy with a hard pink shell that were also made at Necco in Revere. They can still be ordered by the pound at walmart.com and at amazon.com. They will continue to be manufactured by an undisclosed candy company.
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.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
