trICKS AND trEAtS
8 SIGNAL trIBuNE
Tricks and treats, harvests and haunts
will include trick-or-treating from decorated cars in the children’s center parking lot. For more information, visit calheightsumc.org or call (562) 5951996.
2pm, ghoulish activities, Edgar Allen Poe-try Contest, a Best Home-Decorated/Home-Carved Pumpkin Contest, and scary arts and crafts. Tickets cost 50 cents each, contest entries are $2 and the bouncer is $1. Proceeds from the event will be used for new park furnishings. Actors dressed as Bram Stoker and Mary Shelley will perform excerpts from the novelists’ famous works near the bandshell at noon, 1pm and 2pm. For more information, call (562) 983-8139.
Calvary Chapel Signal Hill will host its annual community outreach, the “Let Him Shine” Celebration, from 6pm to 10pm. The event will take place on the campus of Signal Hill Elementary School, 2285 Walnut Ave., as a safe and fun environment for families and will include free carnival games, jumpers, hot dogs, popcorn, cotton candy and free candy. There will also be a puppet show for children, a live drama presentation and live music. For more information, contact assistant pastor Amaury Rosario at (562) 8045509.
things to do, eat and see for Halloween, Fall and Day of the Dead FriDay, OcT. 28
The Found Theatre, 599 Long Beach Blvd., will be clearing out and selling many of its costumes and props during a two-day rummage sale from 9am to 3pm at the theater. The sale will also include clothing, household items, art and jewelry. More info at (562) 4333363 or foundtheatre.org. The families at lafayette elementary School, 2445 Chestnut Ave., will host their annual harvest festival from 2:30pm to 6:30pm on the school’s playground. The monies raised this year will be used to purchase printers for classrooms. Event activities will include a bean-toss competition, hair coloring, arts and crafts, and a costume contest.
SaTurDay, OcT. 29
The Historical Society of long beach will present its 16th annual cemetery tour of the two oldest cemeteries in the city from 9am to about 3:30pm. Tickets can only be purchased on the day of the event at Sunnyside Cemetery, 1095 Willow Ave., from 8:30am until noon– cash or check only. Snacks and drinks are available for purchase throughout the day. A free hot dog and hamburger lunch will be available from 11:30am to 1:30pm. The event is a familyfriendly walking tour in a park-like setting, with some uneven ground. There is some parking space available inside Sunnyside and plenty of parking in the surrounding neighborhood. Prices are $18 general admission, $12 for HSLB members, and $5 for students. Children 11 and under are free. bixby Park Preservation and long beach Department of Parks, recreation and Marine will host their second annual Halloween carnival at Bixby Park, corner of 1st Street and Junipero Avenue between Broadway and Ocean Boulevard, from 11am to 3pm. The event will include prizes for carnival games, a costume contest at
los altos united Methodist Church, 5950 East Willow St., will host a Halloween carnival for young children and preschoolers at 4pm, with games, a costume parade, and fun for the family until 6:30pm. The public is welcome to participate in the festivities in the church parking lot at the corner of Woodruff Avenue and Willow Street. Admission is free. Contact the church office at (562) 598-2451 for more information. Shops on 4th Street’s retro row will participate in a Day of the Dead/Halloweenthemed “Last Saturdays on 4th” event from 4pm to 8pm. A Dia de los Muertos art exhibit will line the street. The Art Theatre, 2025 E. 4th St., will offer free popcorn to those with a receipt from that day from any Retro Row merchant. (Also, The Rocky Horror Picture Show will be screened at midnight with shadowcast.) Also included will be other art exhibits, a food truck, a costume party, trick-or-treating and live music. Visit 4thstreetlongbeach.com/uncategorized/la st-saturdays-on-4th-october-29th-4-8-pm. The City of Signal Hill will host its annual Halloween carnival from 5pm to 8pm on the Signal Hill Park basketball courts (on Hill Street just west of Cherry Avenue). This family event, themed as a “Halloween Harvest Festival,” will feature old-fashioned games, a petting zoo, contests, a juggler, food, candy and live music.
Admission is $3 for children (age 13 and under); adults get in free with payment for a child. long beach Symphony Orchestra will launch its 2011-2012 Orchestra POPS! season at the Long Beach Arena, 300 East Ocean Blvd., with American Songbook, featuring Principal POPS! Conductor Steven Reineke along with New York cabaret performer Tony DeSare presenting classic tunes by Cole Porter, Irvine Berlin, Rodgers & Hammerstein, and more. Audience members are invited to attend dressed in Halloween costumes, as well as to bring food and beverages to enjoy before and during the performance. Doors will open at 6:30pm; show will begin at 8pm. Tickets start at $21. Student rush tickets are available for $10 with valid ID. For more information or to purchase tickets, call (562) 436-3203 or visit LBSO.org.
SunDay, OcT. 30
The Community action Team will present its 11th annual Haute Dog Howl’oween Parade at 2:30pm, with a start/finish point at Livingston Park, 4900 E. Livingston Dr. in Belmont Shore. A vendor and pet-adoption fair will take place in the park from 12:30pm to 4:30pm. The organization will attempt to break the world record for the number of costumed dogs in a parade and will be photographing each dog on the route to send the photographs to records officials. Costumed kids will lead the parade, followed by the dogs. Attendees may bring their own folding chairs or rent one of 500 seats on Park Avenue for $5, starting at about 1pm. For more information, email Justin@justinrudd.com or visit justinrudd.com.
MOnDay, OcT. 31
California Heights united Methodist Church, 3759 Orange Ave., will host a Halloween Trunk-or-Treat Spooktacular from 5:30pm to 7:30pm. The event
The Wrigley area neighborhood alliance (Wana) will host its 5th Halloween on the Green party at 20th Street and Daisy Avenue. Costume contest registration starts at 6:15pm with judging at 6:30pm. Treats for contest participants and prizes for best costume will be provided. For more information contact Maria at (562) 427-5021 or email wrigleyalliance@msn.com.
THurSDay, nOv. 3
Dr. Stella’s Funtastic Dental & Orthodontics, 2700 N. Bellflower Blvd. Suite 217, will be collecting excess candy left over from Halloween from 2pm to 7pm. The dental office will give $1 and a toothbrush in exchange for each pound of candy turned in. The candy must be unopened. It will be shipped to troops overseas. Find out more at (562) 6278800 or FUNtasticDental.com.
Cemetery Tour
Join us on Halloween weekend (Saturday Oct. 29) at the City’s two oldest cemeteries as costumed actors tell about the lives and deaths of those who have called long beach home. along with ten graveside storytellers, you’ll learn about cemetery symbols, see examples of funeral advertising from around the turn of the century, enjoy free hot dogs (11:30am to 1:30pm) and a fun walking tour beneath the trees.
Saturday, Oct. 29, 2011
Sunnyside & Long Beach Municipal Cemeteries
1095 e. Willow St. (between Orange & California Avenues)
0 o ff .0 3 $ r o f n coupo dult price s i h t g n i a Br regular Tour
the emetery C l a c i r o t ual his th 9 2 r 16th Ann e b o t c
,O Saturday
• Tickets on sale from 8:30am to noon • Presentations continuously from 9am to 2:30pm • guided tours leave on the hour @ 9, 10, 11 & noon Adults $18, Members $12, Students 12-18 $5, under 11 are free
ck only. ded. For more information call e h c r o Cash commen e r s e o h ortable s
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California tarantulas caught in web of lies With Halloween just around the corner, it’s time to crush the myths surrounding one of the season’s most misunderstood critters– the tarantula. According to the Department of Fish and Game (DFG), these hefty, hairy spiders have been unjustly maligned for decades. Wildlife biologist Nathan Graveline wants to set the record straight. Graveline has been fascinated with tarantulas since he was a young boy growing up in the Central Valley, where these spiders enjoy the dry, well-drained soil. “I handled quite a few tarantulas and was never bitten, but I did get a rash from the small irritating hairs on their backs,” said Graveline.
TueSDay, nOv. 1
The long beach Playhouse, 5021 E. Anaheim St., will present its second annual celebration of the Mexican traditional holiday of Day of the Dead (Dia de los Muertos) with an altar exhibit from 6pm to 8pm and a multimedia presentation from 8pm to 10pm by Long Beach’s Distinguished Artist of the Year, Gregorio Luke. For complete information on tickets, visit lbplayhouse.org, call (562) 494-1014 (option 1) or email boxoffice@lbplayhouse.org.
16th AnnuAL hiStOriCAL
Historical Society of Long Beach presents
OCtOBEr 28, 2011
562-424-2220 www.hslb.org
WHErE EvErY PLOt HAS A StOrY...AND tHE DEAD DO tELL tALES. This ad generously sponsored by the Signal Tribune
Despite never being bitten, Graveline does not recommend handling these shy arachnids. Although a tarantula’s venom is not lethal, the bite may be painful, similar to a bee sting, due to the size of the spider’s fangs. “It may be tempting for some to try and handle tarantulas, given their docile nature, but while the chance of receiving a bite is small, there is a good possibility of injuring the spider,” he warned. Graveline has passed his love of tarantulas on to his three-year-old daughter. Living in the Sierra foothills of Sonora, they occasionally see the creatures emerge from their dens and creep across the landscape. This summer, he and his daughter discovered a burrow near their mailbox. At night they would deposit crickets at the spider’s doorstop then watch it come out to feed. In addition to crickets, the tarantula enjoys beetles, sow bugs and other small insects. The spider’s venom reduces the prey to a soft mush, which can be easily slurped up and digested. The tarantula, unlike the stereotype depicted in Halloween decorations, is a ground dweller. It is too heavy to hang from a web in the rafters, and it does not sit in a web waiting for prey or unsuspecting human victims. Instead, it uses silk to line its burrow and cover the opening, as well as to aid in the mating process. During mating season, between September and October, the mature male tarantula (around 7 years old) will leave his burrow in search of a female. In preparation for this quest, he will spin a sperm web, deposit his sperm into it and collect some on his pedipalps– the small leg-like appendages near the mouth– to carry with him. When he finds an ideal mate, the male deposits his sperm into the female using his pedipalps. “If the male doesn't leave quickly, he may become the female’s next meal,” Graveline explained. After mating is complete, the female returns to her den and spins a bed of silk, on which she deposits the fertilized eggs. Then she lays down another layer to create a billowy cocoon for her offspring, who will emerge in six to seven weeks. The baby tarantulas stay in their mother’s den for about a week before they venture out into the world and seek burrows of their own. These young spiders are particularly vulnerable to predators such as lizards, snakes, birds and the fearsome tarantula hawk. If she’s careful, the female tarantula can live as long as 20 to 25 years. The male is not so fortunate, for he will die a few months after mating, if he is not consumed in the process. So, as you hang your Halloween decorations this fall, remember that, like the docile, much-maligned tarantula, not everything is what it seems.