Candy, candy, and more candy

Today is Sweetest Day....who knew?  Did you get candy?  More importantly, did you GIVE candy.  After all, that is the true origin of Sweetest day....to give candy to cheer people up.

Sweetest Day started in Cleveland in 1922.  Herbert Birch Kingston was a philanthropist and candy company employee who wanted to bring happiness into the lives of orphans, shut-ins, and other people generally forgotten.  He got together some friends and began to distribute candy and small gifts to the underprivileged.  His friends included two famous actresses of the day.  Movie star, Ann Pennington, gave boxes of candy to 2200 Cleveland newspaper boys to thank them for their public service.  Another popular movie star, Theda Bara,  distributed 10,000 boxes of candy to people in the hospitals in Cleveland.  She also passed out candy to all the people who came to watch her film in a local theater.

Started as a regional holiday, Sweetest Day is now observed on the 3rd Saturday in the month of October, across the country.

It's just a nice way to warm up our taste buds for all that Halloween candy soon to come.