To encourage healthier Halloween habits and help fight dental disease, the Delta Dental Health Theatre is hosting its annual Great Candy Exchange on Sunday, Nov. 2, from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. at the Vetta Soccerdome (Mid-County), located at 220 East Avenue in Webster Groves. Area children, families, school groups and sports teams are invited to this afternoon of fun, where unopened Halloween candy can be traded in for chances to win a variety of different prize packages that encourage healthy habits and active play, including an Xbox 360 Kinect. Admission is free. The Delta Dental Health Theatre aims to gather 1,500 pounds of candy that would otherwise be consumed by Trick-or-Treaters.

The event will also feature live shows, face painting, balloon art, a photo booth, unlimited bounce time on four different inflatables, an educational Healthy Habits Hut, snacks, giveaways and much more. Guests are encouraged to come in costume and take part in the Costume Contest.

Each exchanged pound of candy will be worth one raffle ticket for the prize drawings. The more candy exchanged the more chances one will have to win the prize packages. Additional raffle tickets can be obtained one of two ways. Attendees can either bring new, unopened, child-sized socks, underwear and personal hygiene items to be donated to the Little Bit Foundation, which helps meet the basic needs of children in our community, or make a monetary donation to the Delta Dental Health Theatre to help support the expansion of its programming to include 10 new shows.

Classrooms, clubs, organizations and teams can get involved too. Special prizes will be given to the groups with the “Most Event Attendees” and “Most Candy Collected.” Schools can also participate by serving as a candy collection site. The school that collects the most candy will win a free show for the entire school.  

All candy collected through this event, along with toothbrushes, will be sent to our troops. Delta Dental of Missouri, Pediatric Dentistry of Sunset Hills, the St. Louis District Dairy Council, STL Parent, and Watson Pointe Dental – Joseph S. Grimaud DDS, are serving as event sponsors. To learn more about the upcoming event and the work of the theatre, call 314-241-7391, visit www.ddhtstl.org, find them on Facebook or follow them on Twitter @YoucanToucan.