Mixing fun with a serious message

A party with treats and tips jump-starts kids' Halloween.

By LOGAN NEILL, Times Staff Writer
Published October 29, 2007

Samantha Blanchette, 8, left, and Tytiana Lee, 8, play putt-putt golf at the Make a Difference Day and Red Ribbon Celebration at the Jerome Brown Community Center. The anti-drug event featured face painting, free costumes and games.
	[Keri Wiginton | Times]

ADVERTISEMENT [Keri Wiginton | Times] Skye Higginbotham, 5, pops a balloon to get candy at the Red Ribbon Celebration, Make a Difference Day at the Jerome Brown center on Saturday.

BROOKSVILLE - Although Halloween was still several days away, 11-year-old Kendra Brown decided to give her costume an early tryout at Saturday's Red Ribbon Celebration and Make a Difference Day.

With her younger brother, Jordan, in tow, Kendra wended her way through the Jerome Brown Community Center as the Grim Reaper. Surrounded by other monsters, ghosts and goblins, she admitted her costume needed one final touch.

"I still need to find a mask," Kendra said. "I'm just not scary enough."

Though frights may not have been the order of the day, children who came to the community event were offered plenty of treats - as well as some sage advice about how to stay drug free.

"Sometimes the best way to get a serious message across to kids is to mix in a little fun as well," said center director Joann Munford. "This is a good way to reach really young kids and make them aware of how bad drugs are."

Saturday's celebration marked the center's fourth year sponsoring Red Ribbon Week activities, aimed at kindergarteners through eighth-graders. For the second consecutive year, the center partnered its effort with local organizers of the nationally celebrated Make a Difference Day.

Community and government agencies set up booths offering Halloween treats. Volunteers from Crosspoint Church staffed game booths, staged an antidrug puppet show and helped serve hot dogs, cotton candy and sodas.

Youngsters without the means of buying a Halloween costume could stop by the "Costumes 4 Kids" booth, where Susie and Carl Hatfield sorted through their stockpile of new and preworn garments. According to Susie Hatfield, this year's effort has put costumes in the hands of nearly 75 underprivileged children.

"Seeing the smiles here makes all the difference in the world," said Hatfield. "Halloween is a special time for kids. They should be able to enjoy it."

For 12-year-old Joseph Gil-Sanchez, the event provided plenty of fun for himself and his younger brother.

"I really liked the fishing game best," Joseph said. "It was easy. You couldn't lose."

Logan Neill can be reached at lneill@sptimes.com or 352 848-1435.

[Last modified October 28, 2007, 19:29:27]