Colorado Springs Veteran’s Day Parade

Downtown Colorado Springs
The whole family can enjoy this free, patriotic parade, which runs along Tejon Street from St. Vrain Street to Vermijo Avenue. For more information, call 282-3862 or visit www.csvetsparade.org.

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Through the weekend

CC Hockey Action
Saturday and Sunday at the World Arena
The Colorado College Tigers take on the perennial NCAA powerhouse University of North Dakota Fighting Sioux. Tickets start at just $13 and can be purchased by calling 520-SHOW or visiting www.ticketswest.com. For more information on Tiger hockey, call 576-2626 or click www.cctigers.com.

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Saturday

Remember Our Veterans Walk
Aquatic and Fitness Center in Memorial Park
Take a stroll with the Falcon Wanderers during this non-competitive, free walk of 5k or 10k. For details, email the Wanderers at walking@falconwanderers.com.

Diwali: Festival of Lights
Colorado College - Armstrong Theater
The Indian community of Colorado Springs joins together to celebrate Diwali with songs and dances highlighting the rich cultural heritage of India. The performance features Indian classical, folk and modern dances along with beautifully performed live music covering many, many years of Indian history. Tickets are $20-$25 for reserved seating and $15 for general admission. Call 440-0675 or click www.cosindia.com for details.

St. Baldrick’s: Help find a cure for childhood cancers
Discovery Canyon Campus
Shave your head in solidarity of children with cancer, while requesting donations of support from friends and family. For more information, call Michael at 494-8454 or Debbie at 487-7496.

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Sunday

Pacific Pride and Island Heart’s Dancers
East Library
Watch and learn a special dance for Hawaii, Samoa or Tahiti with this talented group of young dancers and take home an island-themed craft. Visit www.ppld.org for additional dates, times and locations.

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Vote Today!

Tomorrow will be too late for your voice to be heard, for you to have an impact on your child’s future by participating in this historic election.

If you’d like to check your registration status before you go to avoid surprises, click here to visit the Colorado Secretary of State’s Web site. For more information on if you need to bring identification, where your local polling station is or for a sample ballot — it’s a long one, folks, so be prepared — contact the El Paso County elections department at http://car.elpasoco.com/Election or 575-VOTE (8683).

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Kids urged to give up 100 Grand for a buck

BILL REED — THE GAZETTE

Halloween trick-or-treaters give dentists wicked nightmares, not because of their masks and fake blood, but because of the pounds of candy they carry home and gobble down.

Two Colorado Springs dentists have decided to do something about it. Instead of tossing and turning as visions of small mouths with cavities fill their heads, they’re buying back that candy at $1 per pound. And then the candy will go to U.S. troops overseas.

“Ditch the candy - that’s what we’re saying,” said Dr. Ralph Parkin of the Cheyenne Mountain Dental Center. Checkups and brushing are good, he said, “but doing away with excess sweets altogether would really give your teeth a healthy boost.”

The candy buyback is part of a national program, started in 2007, that includes a few hundred dentists. The dentists distribute their coffers of candy to troops through Operation Gratitude, a California-based nonprofit that specializes in care packages to overseas troops.

Exceptional Dentistry, run by Dr. Ron Charity, pulled in 200 kids and 500 pounds of candy last year. He gives the kids $1 a pound, plus a goodie bag that includes coupons to businesses such as Chuck E. Cheese and Mimi’s Café.

“We’re always talking about Halloween, because the average kid collects about 5 pounds of candy,” Charity said. “Nobody needs 5 pounds of candy, not just from a dental standpoint, but an overall health standpoint.”

The dentists don’t want to become Dr. Killjoy, though. They hope kids pick out some of their favorite candy, and then donate the rest.

“We don’t want them to feel like they’ve been robbed,” Parkin said. “We don’t want to steal their childhood.”

Kyshawn Suggs, now 11, was excited last year to sell the 6 pounds of candy he earned to Parkin.

“My mom said if I gave my candy to the dentist it would be for the troops,” said Kyshawn, a sixth-grader at Carmel Middle School. Both of his parents have served in the military, so he liked that idea.

Of course, there’s one irony to the program: Dentists are buying candy from children to save them from the horrors of tooth decay, then sending the candy to adults who, presumably, have teeth that can get cavities.

Parkin said he thought about that, and he’s tossing in toothbrushes for the troops as well. Charity said the candy will be distributed among many troops, their friends, and maybe the kids in foreign countries where they serve, so they won’t each be wolfing down the 5 pounds of sugary treats that many trick-or-treaters do. Moderation is the key.

He hopes adults are responsible enough to brush after consuming candy - a warning parents might want to take to heart before they raid their kids’ candy piles.

Otherwise, a sweet treat can turn into a nasty trick.

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Candy dropoff sites

Cheyenne Mountain Dental Center

Where: 1803 B St.
When: 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Nov. 4, 5 and 7. 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Nov. 8
Prizes: $1 per pound of candy, plus a FireFly flashing toothbrush
More info: 576-1730

Colorado Balloon Classic offices in partnership with Cheyenne Mountain Dental Center

Where: 328 Bonfoy Ave.
When: 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Nov. 4-7
Prizes: $1 per pound of candy, plus a FireFly flashing toothbrush
More info: 471-4833 or 576-1730

Exceptional Dentistry

Where: 1675 Briargate Blvd., Suite A
When: 3:30-5:30 p.m. Nov. 3 and 4
Prizes: $1 per pound of candy, plus a goodie bag with coupons to local businesses and a FireFly toothbrush More info: 574-1705

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This week’s Pikes Peak Parent’s BEST BET:

Grimm Pajamas

Nov. 1-2, Manitou Art Theater
Enjoy a great belly laugh with perennial MAT favorites Creede Repertory Company as they take us on an outrageous fairytale romp. Music, puppetry and silliness abound in this high energy telling of some familiar and some unfamiliar classic tales! There’ll be nothing grim about it! Tickets are $9 each or $80 for a Ten Pack Pass. Call 685-4729 or visit www.themat.org/kidsfirst.html for tickets or details.

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Tonight (Friday)

Safe Night Halloween
Stratmoor Hills Elementary School
Harrison High School’s Senior SGA is hosting this free community event full of trick-or-treating and fun activities for children 12 and younger. Children should be escorted by a parent or guardian and be dressed up in their favorite costume. Free child safety kits will also be available by a local organization.

Masquerade Ball
East Teen Center
Dance the evening away in your very best or scariest outfit, vying for the prize in the annual costume contest at this free event for teens. Call: 531-6333 or visit www.ppld.org for details.

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All weekend

Arthur Live!
Friday and Saturday at the Pikes Peak Center
See this beloved character of children’s books and the Emmy Award-winning PBS show on stage at this musical adventure with a dozen original songs. Tickets are $15-$15 and can be purchased by calling 520-SHOW or clicking www.ticketswest.com.

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Saturday

Chemical Magic Show
Bear Creek Nature Center
Be amazed and surprised as experts from Cool Science play with chemicals, blow things up and more. Admission is $4 and reservations are required: 520-6387.

The RiP’s Brand New Show
Manitou Art Theater
Local improv group the RiP is unveiling a brand new show featuring short-form improv, long-form improv and a dash of sketch comedy. Tickets are $10. For more informaiton, call 685-4729 or visit www.theriponline.com.

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Sunday

Free Admission Day
Denver Zoo
Enjoy the colors and crisp air of fall at the zoo for free! Call 303-376-4800 or visit www.denverzoo.org for more information.

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No, we’re not going to talk about poisoned candy from China again. This time, it’s all about chocolate from Africa produced through illegal child labor and against international labor laws. In other words, most of the chocolate you buy at the local grocery store — be it caramel- or nougat-filled — does not conform to the standards of a “fair trade” product, fair trade being…

“an organized social movement and market-based approach to empowering developing country producers and promoting sustainability. The movement advocates the payment of a fair price as well as social and environmental standards.” (Wikipedia link)

The chocolate you buy at the grocery store, then, will usually come from chocolate produced in West Africa, where more than half a million children work tilling the cocoa fields. You cannot guarantee that workers were paid a fair price, are not being exploited physically or economically, or that they’re not practicing destructive farming practices that will ruin the land — and hurt the people who live on it — for years to come.

What? That’s not the first thing that comes to mind when you’re biting into an almond Joy?

Well, it is for the Danielle Vitulli and her family. She’s aware of the chocolate issue, and she’s taking her knowledge to the streets:

The Chipeta Elementary School fourth-grader is one of thousands of American children taking part in a “Reverse Trick-or-Treating” campaign, which was launched by human rights advocacy groups last year to raise awareness of child labor problems in cocoa fields.

As she collects candy in her Pinon Valley neighborhood Friday night, Danielle will hand neighbors a piece of fair-trade-certified chocolate in return, along with a postcard explaining why the treat is different.

Right now, it looks like the Vitulli family are the only locals participating in Reverse Trick-or-Treating, but they don’t have to remain so. If you’d like to hand out fair trade chocolate on Halloween night, browse your local Whole Foods, Vitamin Cottage, Mountain Mama or other natural food store. The candy may be more expensive, but you can be sure your money is going into the hands of farmers and workers and into the health of their land and our planet. (And the chocolate itself? Really, really yummy.)

For more information on Reverse Trick-or-Treating, visit www.globalexchange.org/campaigns/fairtrade/cocoa/reversetrickortreating. And to become educated about the fair trade movement in general, visit the International Fair Trade Association at www.ifat.org.

And if you see Danielle out in your neighborhood, be sure to tell her way to go on her youthful energy, compassion and hope for the future. And her vampire costume is pretty awesome, too.

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Photo caption: Danielle Vitulli, left, and Darcy Naugle are taking part in a “Reverse Trick-or-Treating” campaign that was launched to raise awareness of child labor problems in cocoa fields. The girls plan to give candy and a message about fairtrade chocolate to people who answer the door. JERILEE BENNETT, THE GAZETTE

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I received the recall through e-mail, which I don’t usually trust, but the claim has been verified over at snopes. Sherwood claims that none of the candy was vended in the United States, but keep an eye out for the gold coins anyway, just to be safe. For more information, visit the Canadian Food Inspection Agency’s explanation of the incident.

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Boo at the Zoo

Cheyenne Mountain Zoo
Oct. 24-26, trick or treat in a safe and festive environment with nightly magic shows, a not-too-scary haunted fun house, a ghostly graveyard and, of course, many of the zoo’s resident animals. Admission is $15 for ages 3-65, $9 for zoo members, and free those younger than 3 or older than 65. Call 633-9925 or visit www.cmzoo.org for more information. Also, check out the CM Zoo’s great new blog, In Between the Spots.

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Saturday

Halloween at FCNC
Fountain Creek Nature Center
The day kicks off with the Pumpkin Carving Party from 9 a.m.-1 p.m. ($3, reservations required) and continues from 5:30-8 p.m. with the Jack-o-Lantern Trail Walk ($4), a walk through paths lined with lit pumpkins with awards for best designs. Costumes are encouraged. Call 520-6745 for details.

Halloween events at the YMCA

– Fall Family Festival. 1–4 p.m. at the Garden Ranch Family Center YMCA. Carnival games, crafts, snacks and giveaways for kids of all ages. Call 593-9622 for details.

– Spooky Town. 4–7 p.m. at the Downtown Family Center YMCA. Kids 7 and older will get to experience a haunted mansion full of ghoulish goblins and happy howlers. For the younger kids, Spooky Town Village will help them get into the Halloween spirit without scaring them. Every child will receive a bag of goodies. Call 473-9622 for details.

– Spooktacular. 6–9 p.m. at the Fountain Valley YMCA. An evening of games, costume parade and contest, fall crafts and wonderful witches. It’s all treats and no tricks! $3 per child, parents free with a non-perishable food item. Call 382-1561 for details.

– Fall Family Festival. 6:30–8 p.m. at the Briargate Family Center YMCA. Trick o’ Trunk, carnival games and a cake walk. Call 282-9622 for details.

Emma Crawford Festival Memorial Coffin Parade & Races
Downtown Manitou Springs
At this free event, watch as many as 40 coffins and “Emmas” race up the town’s main street in honor of this historic Manitou Springs resident. Each coffin is pulled by a team of 4 mourners and each will also have an “Emma” riding in it. For more information, call 685-5089 or visit www.manitousprings.org.

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Ongoing events

Haunted Mines
Western Museum of Mining and Industry
The Museum’s mine shafts and elevators create a spooky, terrifying backdrop for this haunted house, recommended for kids 12 and older. Admission is $13. Call 488-0880 or visit www.hauntedmines.org for more information.

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Colorado’s first laboratory-confirmed flu case of the season has been diagnosed in an adult male in El Paso County, the county health department said Tuesday.

It’s fairly early for the county to get its first case of the flu, said El Paso County Health Department medical director Dr. Bernadette Albanese. But that doesn’t necessarily predict a bad flu season.

“The confirmed test gives us an early indication that flu is starting to circulate in our community,” Albanese said. “We can expect to see more cases over the coming weeks so our residents should take note and get their flu vaccine.”

Last year, El Paso County had the highest rate of flu infections in the state - 20 percent higher than the statewide average. The 2007-2008 flu season was the worst in four years, with 152 people becoming sick enough with the virus to be hospitalized and tested.

Although a large part of last year’s larger outbreak was caused by a miscalibration of the flu vaccine, let’s not let this happen again. Just like I said last year, the first step in prevention is to know the symptoms, which include fever, a flushed face, body aches, chills, headache, nausea and lack of energy, according to Penrose St. Francis Health Services. Some people have dizziness or vomiting. Penrose St. Francis advises those with a mild illness to:

• Rest
• Take medicines that relieve symptoms and help you rest
• Drink plenty of liquids
• Avoid aspirin (especially teens and children)
• Avoid alcohol and tobacco
• Avoid antibiotics (unless necessary for another illness)

However, if the person struck by symptoms is in a high-risk group — which includes kids 6 months-2 years, adults older than 50, pregnant women, those living in long-term care facilities and those with chronic illnesses — call your health care provider as soon as possible. Or take advantage of the ASK-A-NURSE hot line by dialing 719-776-5555.

Lastly, if you or someone you love has come down with the flu, do us all a favor and STAY HOME! In the comfort of your own home, you can make yourself and your entire community feel better, faster.

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If you’re parenting an elementary-age child, get advice from experts at an information night tonight at Foothills Elementary School, 825 Allegheny Drive. The free event is sponsored by the Academy School District 20 Safe and Healthy Schools Committee, and is open to all D-20 parents.

The event begins at 6 p.m. with free pizza and childcare check-in for children 3 years old and up, and the first session begins at 6:30 p.m. Parents may select two sessions on topics such as Internet Safety; Get Fit, Stay Fit, Never Quit; How to Get the Mads Out; Parenting with Love and Logic; and Dealing with a Bipolar Child at Home and School.Information tables will be set up by various businesses and organizations.

Reservation for adults are not needed, but for childcare reservations call Linda Kasza at 234-4526.

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