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16A LIFESTYLES
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 30, 1997
Breast Cancer Month
NAACP leader Kwesi Mfume speaks out on
deadly illness.. See page 13A.
Local dentist tapped
for ACD Fellowship
Dr. John Matthew Murphy
was awarded Fellowship in the
American College of Dentists dur
ing the groups annual meeting
earlier this month.
The fellowships,which are
awarded to less than 3 percent of
all dentists, are open only by invi
tation and based on demonstrated
leadership and contributions to
the dental profession and society.
Murphy, who has been in prac
tice for 32 years, says he’s “happy”
to recieve the honor.
“The honor of being awarded
the fellowship into the American
College of Dentist, and being rec
ognized by my peers as a leader
and contributor to the field is the
pinnacle of my career,” Murphy
said. “This is a destinction that I
revere and gratefhlle appreciate.”
Alphas to hold rally
at Mint Museum
Alpha Phi Alpha wil host a
rally tonight at the Mint
Museum, 2730 Randolph Road.
The event is open to all mem
bers. For more information, call
391-3100.
Graham to speak at
youth banquet
Author Stedman Graham will
be the featured speaker for Save
the Seed’s annual youth banquet,
■ ISfov. 13.
Graham, who penned best
seller You Can Make it Happen: A
Nine-Step Plan for Success,” is a
former professional athlete and
owner of Graham and Associates,
a management consulting firm.
Save the Seed is an organizatio
of African American men commit
ted to serving as role models for
needy youth.
This year’s banquet will be
held at the Marriot City Center.
Tickets are $35. For more infor
mation, call 376-7283.
Overeaters weekly
meetings schedule
The Charlotte chapter of
Overeaters Anonymous hosts
weekly meeting for those in need
of support to overcome eating dis
orders.
Meeting times and sites are as
follows:
• Sunday
Advent Lutheran Chmch, 8840
University Blvd. 5 p.m.
• Monday
Mecklenburg County Chemical
Dependency Center, 100
Billingsley Road. Noon.
Sharon United Methodist
Church, 4441 Sharon Road. 7:15
a.m.
• Tuesday
First Baptist Church, 21007
Catawba Ave. Cornelius. Noon.
Glenwood ARP Church, 5024
Freedom Dr. 7 p.m.
CPC Cedar Spring Hospital,
9600 Pineville-Matthews Road,
7:30 p.m.
• Wednesday
St. John’s Episcopal Church,
1623 Carmel Road, 10:30 a.m.
St. Luke’s Lutheran Church,
3200 Park Road, 6:15 p.m.
• Thursday
St. Gabriel’s Catholic Church,
3016 Providence Road, 6:15 p.m.
First United Presyterian Church,
406 N. College St. 12:10 p.m.
• Friday
St. John’s Episcopal Church,
See AFKXJND CHARLOTTE 14A
Keep little ghosts safe
PHOTOS/JERI YOUNG
Displays like this signal the arrival of Halloween, or All Hallows Eve, celebration. Youngsters customarily go from house to house
to receive treats from neighbors. Parents should take care to keep the little ones safe.
Experts offer Halloween safety tips
By Jeri Young
THE CHARLOTTE POST
Caution: Small ghosts and
goblins crossing.
Friday is Halloween and
across the city, children will
take to the streets in search of
treats...and more than a few
tricks.
While Halloween is fun for
kids, spook sightings are extra
scary for parents and pohce.
The excitement of new cos
tumes and children’s natural
sense of adventure often make
them forget basic safety rules.
They dash from between cars
instead of crossing at comers
and lose their wariness of
strangers in the dogged quest
for candy.
“Halloween is kind of a tough
night,” says Charlotte-
Mecklenburg pohce officer Tbm
Barry. “We like to talk to any
one who need our help in pre
venting crime and (ensure)
safety.”
Barry says parents need to
stress the importance of
remembering basic safety
rules.
“Parents shorrldn’t hesitate to
go to the door with a child,*’ he
said. ‘You’re not being overpro-
teCtive. It’s always all-right to
be cautious.”
According to Barry, parents
are more aware of safety issues
this year in fight of several inci
dents of crimes against chil
dren.
“People are more concerned
about safety because of the sto
ries they have heard,” Barry
said. “In today’s society, parents
need to be more proactive in
protecting children.”
Dr. Brent King, director of
Emergency Services at St.
Christopher’s Hospital for
Children in Philadelphia, offers
these tips to parents:
• Children should wear fight
or brightly colored costumes
that are visible at night.
Canying a flashlight or wear
ing reflective tape on costumes
■will help children be more visi
ble.
• Make sure your child’s cos
tume is flame-resistant and fits
properly. Avoid oversized shoes,
high heels and long skirts or
pants that couljl^u^ a child .
to fall.
• Avoid dressing your child
up in masks, wigS4)E.«eiJs that ,,
obstmct vision. If a child wears
makeup, parents should look
for non-toxic, hypoallergenic
kits.
• Send your child out early
and obey trick-or-treat hours
set by your community.
• If you can’t trick-or-treat
with your child, send him out
with a group of his close friends
or with anothe^ adult.
• Go over basic ground rules
that you expect your child to
follow if he is trick-or-treating
without you:
Don’t cross in the middle of
the street and always use the
sidewalk.
Don’t go into strange homes
or apartments.
Don’t talk to strangers or get
into a stranger’s car.
Avoid houses that don’t have
their outside lights on.
Don’t eat your candy until
you get home.
. • When your child gets hows,
from trick-or-treating, inspect
candy before it is eaten.
Discard aJl.ijn^apped gHoose-
ly wrapped candy or fhnt!
• If you have any questions
about suspicious-looking
treats, call your local police
department.
• Small children should
never carve pumpkins.
Children can draw a face with
markers, then a parent can do
the cutting.
• If you decide to fight your
piunpkin with a votive candle,
make sure that you place the
pumpkin on a sturdy surface
and keep it away from curtains
and other flammable objects.
Never leave a lighted pumpkin
imattended.
Tb keep your own home safe
for visiting trick-or-treaters,
make sure your doorway is
uncluttered. Remove anything
a child could trip over, such as
garden hoses, toys, bikes and
lawn decorations.
The Associated Press con
tributed to this article.
Some trick-or-treat alternatives are available
Nervous about having your hobgoblins out tomor
row night?
There are plenty of spools things going on to enter
tain kids of all ages.
Several local organizations will host Halloween
happenings for families.
The events range from a basketball tournament to
old fashioned haunted houses.
In case traditional ghostly gatherings aren’t your
thing, a couple of local churches will host Halloween
alternatives.
Just in case mom and dad want to go rocking on the
spookiest night of the year, Queen City Omegas will
host its annual Mardi Gras tomorrow night at Oasis
Tbmple, 604 Daniel Burnham Way. The party begins
at 8 p.m. Tickets are $25 and proceeds will benefit the
group’s scholarship fund.
Here’s a list of what’s going on for the family.
Ibday
• Haunted Castle, through Saturday, 5 - 10 p.m.,
Knights Castle, Fort Mill. Tour “Rooms of the
Unknown.” Admission is $6 with discounts available
for groups of 15 or more. For more information, call
36-HOMER or 548-8050.
•Trail of Fear, through Saturday, 7 p.m.-2 a.m.
Three area locations: McAlpine Park, South
Charlotte Middle School and Lakewood Park,
Statesville. Proceed benefit Special Olympics.
• Terror at South End, through Friday, 8 p.m.-mid-
night. Party begins in front of the Spaghetti
Warehouse, 101W. Worthington Ave. Haimt^ maze,
graveyard, dungeon and other ghoulies. For more
information, call 559-8072.
• Halloween Hoops contest, 7 p.m. Hawthorne
Recreation Center, 345 Hawthorne Lane. For 14
years and older. For more information, call 336-2008.
See HALLOWEEN page 15A
Child care conference set
By Laura Meckler
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON - The place
smelled fike dirty diapers.
‘Yuck,” thought Betsy Suflivan.
She didn’t want to leave her
daughter at a child-care center
fike that.
But the next place was worse.
No one even realized she was
there.
.“I could have walked in and
walked off with the place, or a kid
for that matter,” said Sufiivan,
who fives outside San Francisco.
“It was really scaiy.”
And so it went, until the
Sullivans found a center that was
structured, but not a boot camp; a
place without foul odors; a place
they could leave 18-month-old
Elva, the little girl who takes
months to warm to strangers.
Cost and quality. They are the
two biggest issues in child care.
And they cut against each other:
Improving quality usually means
spending more.
Experts will sort through such
problems and potential solutions
Thursday at the first-ever White
House conference on child care.
But President Cfinton plans to
announce few concrete proposals,
instead focusing on a handful of
modest ideas that include:
• A public education campaign
and literature to help parents
choose high quality child care.
• New incentives, such as loans
or grants, to help child-care work
ers get more education.
• A campaign to get businesses
more involved in providing child
See CHILD page14A
%
GcmeA.
Lambert
work took
10 years
Byjeri Young
THE CHARLOTTE POST
Drumbeats from Kabala
Joseph B. Lambert
Commonwealth Publications
1995
$4.99
Joseph Lambert always had a
stoiy to teU.
It just took him a few years to
put it on paper.
Tbn years to be exact.
‘T started in 1986,” Lambert
said. “It was published in 1996.1
would work a little, then put in
on the shelf. It could have taken
one or two years if I would have
worked on it continuously. What
really took time was finding time
to sit down and write.”
Lambert also faced the chal
lenge of figuring out how to actu
ally put his stoiy on paper.
In 1986, he started -writing
“Drumbeats from Kabala” long-
hand. By the time the book was
completed, he had purchased
both a typewriter and computer.
“The typewriter didn’t work,”
Lambert said. “Neither did -writ
ing it out longhand. It was hard
figuring out how I felt most com
fortable writing.”
Lambert, an accounting techni
cian, says he always had the
desire to write. For several years,
he was an editor with
International Black Writers of
Charlotte, a group that_ spon
sored readings and critical
reviews for aspiring black writ
ers.
In “Drumbeats from Kabala,”
Lambert turns his pen to the
problems facing Hufho, a young
African who travels to America to
seek his fortune.
Hufho finds New York City and
American customs baffling.
Lambert knows first hand
Hufho’s problems. He immigrat
ed to the U.S. from Sierra Leone
in 1982.
‘Tt’s mostly creative fiction,”
Lambert says of his character’s
adventures. “Like most fiction, it
incorporates a little bit of the
experiences of friends and people
I know myself.”
Aside from the problem of find
ing time to -write, Lambert faced
the challenge of finding a pub
lisher. Without an agent, he sent
copies of his manuscript to sever
al publishers before hitting on
one that accepted his work.
“It was sometimes friistrating,”
he said. “The general expectation
is that you wfll be turned do-wn
even though the work may be
good.”
Lambert says the rejection
notes from publishers kept him
positive.
“They were never negative,” he
said. “They liked the work and
said good things about it. That
made it easier to take the rejec
tion. I was glad even the turri-
1
See DRUMBEATS page 14A
FILE PHOTO
Search for good child care can be difficult for parents.