Support Our Troops Through the Halloween Candy Buy-Back Program

With Halloween around the corner, many of us are anticipating stockpiles of sugary sweets in our households. Halloween 2011 is on a Monday yet there is an entire weekend of trick-or-treat pre-events throughout Ventura County our little ones are looking forward to.

As an alternative to consuming all this candy, consider donating it to our troops overseas. You may think, do we really want to send all that junk food to Afghanistan and throughout the world? Sure! Everyone enjoys a treat! And truth be told, the troops themselves don't eat all this candy...much of it they enjoy sharing in the communities they patrol.

The Halloween Candy Buy-Back Program has partnered with Operation Gratitude and local dental practices to channel your candy stockpile to our troops. Local dentists "buy" back Halloween candy in exchange for cash or other items. The candy is shipped to Operation Gratitude and other U.S. Military support groups and in turn it is sent overseas.

There are nearly a dozen local Ventura County dental practices participating in this program. Just visit www.halloweencandybuyback.com and enter your zip code for these or other locations throughout the L.A./Ventura County area.

I called several of these practices in Moorpark and Thousand Oaks and they are offering $1 to $2 per pound plus raffle prizes.  Each practice has their own buy-back incentives. so make sure to call to learn more about their program and related time frames (usually the first several days after Halloween).

The only loser in this program is ME because I won't get to raid my kids' trick-or-treat bags if we use this program! :>

Halloween Events and Activities In and Around Ventura County!

BOO HOO, I mean BOO! It felt like just yesterday that I was shoving my Halloween costume into storage and polishing off the kids' candy stash, but here we are, once again, preparing for Halloween once again!

Here WAS** a list of Halloween events, activities and other fun goings on around Ventura County and surrounding areas!  Spooky houses, pumpkin patches, trick or treating, carnivals, community events, storytelling and more! More events will be posted as they are confirmed (or contact us to submit an event). (Dates/times subject to change; contact event organizers to confirm.)

** Halloween 2011 has come and gone but this list will be back up and running in 2012!

'Twas the Night Before Halloween in the Conejo Valley

Twas the night before Halloween and all through the sky,

In Conejo Valley, the clouds stopped by.

While witches were not seen as sunset arrived,

Tomorrow's the big day, we won't be deprived.

Of ghosts and gobblins and skeleton costumes,

Mummies, vampires, creepy dark, lost tombs.

We look forward to young trick or treaters at night,

As the Kit Kats and Snickers and SweeTarts delight.

If the trend continues from Halloweens past,

Our candy supply at night's end will be vast.

Which is good considering I have a sweet tooth,

Reese's are my weakness to tell you the truth.

So as the clock ticks towards this favorite day,

There is just one thing more I want to say.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Pumpkin Patches in Ventura County and Adjacent Areas

There were over 6 dozen upcoming Halloween events and activities in the Ventura County area in 2011 but let's zero in on the star of the Halloween show, the pumpkin.

According to my favorite resource Wikipedia, the name pumpkin originated from the Greek word pepon ("large melon"). The French called it pompom. The British changed it to pumpion. Then American colonists changed it to pumpkin. Pumpkins are gourd-like squashes and technically are a fruit. They can range in size from 1 lb to 1,000 lbs.

Well Halloween 2011 has come and gone and the pumpkin patches below provided us with loads of joy and fun! See you next year!

Big Wave Dave's Pumpkin Patch in Ventura

Boccali Ranch Pumpkin Patch in Ojai

Calabasas Pumpkin Festival October 15-16

Faulkner Farm Pumpkin Patch in Santa Paula

Fillmore & Western PumpkinLiner Trains

McGrath Street Pumpkin Patch in Ventura

Pete's Pumpkin Patch in Camarillo

Great Pacific Pumpkins in Ventura

Pick Your Own Pumpkin Patch at Harvest Festival in Woodland Hills

Stu Miller's Pumpkin Patch in Simi Valley and Thousand Oaks

Underwood Family Farms Fall Harvest Festival

Bennett's Best Pumpkin Patch (2 Locations) in Agoura Hills

Pumpkin Patch at Christ the King Lutheran Church in Newbury Park

Halloween is Near, Black Cat Has No Fear!

I came across these really neat photos via a friend in Facebook. Los Angeles based digital special effects designer David Ridlen was outside his home a few weeks ago and noticed his neighbor's cat Lucy was perched on top of their chimney. And the moon floated directly above the fearless feline. Amazed at what a great image that was, David scrambled and grabbed his HD video camera and snapped these still shots.  Though the resolution of the shots is not high, it certainly turned out some really cool shots for this home stretch into Halloween! I love these pics!!

 

 

For nearly 40 things to do through Halloween weekend, CLICK HERE!