Comments (0) | |

Friday, Oct. 30, 2009

Leftover candy a bite idea

Even after the weekend clouds disappear from the radar screen, there still may be a mysterious blob hovering over Middle Georgia for most of next week.

Consider it ground clutter from the piles of Halloween candy plucked from the bags of trick-or-treaters from Flovilla to Unadilla to Vanilla.

There will be deposits of Tootsie Rolls, rows of candy corn and leftover gummy bears hiding in the den.

There could be enough sugar in all the Mars bars to fly to the moon and back.

What’s a belly to do? Keep nibbling from now until the third Monday in November?

Sheila Shah, a local dentist, has a plan.

By the middle of next week, she is urging parents and their children to wrap it up, in a manner of speaking.

From 3:30 to 6 p.m. Wednesday, youngsters can bring their unopened candy to MaconSmiles Laser & Cosmetic Dentistry at 4929 Forsyth Road. Sheila and her staff will buy it for $1 per pound. (Adults are asked to donate their candy.)

There will be coupons from local restaurants and a chance to win an iPod.

The first 288 kids get a cool, flashing firefly toothbrush.

No, this isn’t a cash for chunkers program. Sheila is simply trying to promote awareness of preventive dentistry and good health habits.

(Childhood obesity and diabetes seem to be growing faster than the national debt.)

Yet this is much more than a crusade against cavities and calories. The collected candy will be shipped to our troops overseas as part of “Operation Gratitude.”

Sheila is not on a witch hunt against Halloween. It is one of her favorite holidays.

Growing up in a family of six children in Warner Robins, she would trick-or-treat in the neighborhoods off Green Street. Her mother once made her a princess outfit out of crepe paper. Sheila would gather with the other children to compare their candy hauls.

Now she’s on the mommy side of it. Her 7-year-old daughter, Neely, is a huge fan of Halloween. Neely spends months planning her costume. Saturday night, she will dress as a cheerleader from “High School Musical.”

Sheila allows her daughter to enjoy the candy for a few days. Then it’s time to throw down the gauntlet. If the goodies linger within arm’s reach, pretty soon the temptation can be too great — for the entire family.

Halloween marks the beginning of the sweet-tooth season.

“It’s followed by Thanksgiving, Christmas, Valentine’s Day and Easter,” Sheila said. “That’s six months of sweets.”

The candy buy-back is even more personal for Sheila, because all those excess candy bars will be an appreciated treat from home for our military folks.

Her father, the late George H. Wilson, was a retired U.S. Army major who had tours in both Korea and Vietnam.

He moved his family to Warner Robins in the early 1970s because of Robins Air Force Base.

Sheila first learned of the candy buy-back after reading an article in a dental magazine. The program was started three years ago by Chris Kammer, a dentist from Middleton, Wis. Her MaconSmiles practice is now one of about 1,100 dental offices participating.

I know it may be tough for some of you to part with your beloved chocolate.

Just mark it down as a bite idea.

Reach Gris at 744-4275 or gris@macon.com.