Five Things to Do This Weekend: Walk for chocolate, buy art for pets, ride a railroad

This is an amazing weekend coming up, even more amazing than most weekends. (It’s Abe Lincoln’s birthday, which I am honored to share. Carrot cake!) For all you non-birthday folks, here are five things to do this weekend. Technically, there’s one you can do any ol’ day of the week.

Walk for chocolate

Nearly 20 Belleville merchants will hand out chocolate from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, including hot chocolate. Bonnie Buescher, of Raintree Salon, says the Midtowne Belleville Chocolate Crawl is free, and participating merchants will display a pink heart in their windows. Get a golden ticket at Nanny Lou’s at 1926 W. Main St. with addresses for all 18 shops. Take that stamped ticket back at 2 p.m. for a grand prize drawing of baskets filled with merchant wares as well as a chocolate cookbook and gift certificates.

Buescher said every business is providing something a little different, “I’m doing chocolate brownies with a key chain” and chocolate popcorn and chocolate truffles are also planned.

Rescue art

For $15 a person or $25 per couple, you can enjoy a couple of drinks and snacks while enjoying art interpretations of what the word “rescue” means. All the proceeds from tickets and art sales go to Partners for Pets, of Troy. THE heART OF RESCUE is from 1 to 4 p.m. Sunday at The Chapel at 6238 Alexander, St. Louis. For more information, call 618-540-7387.

Ride the railroad

Escaped slaves found refuge in a number of places in the Alton and Godfrey along the Underground Railroad. Eric Robinson, a local historian, will provide guided shuttle tours at 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. Saturday of many of these sites. Tickets are $25 per person and available at the Alton Regional Convention and Visitors Bureau at 618-465-6676 or 800-258-6645. Tickets may also be purchased online at www.visitalton.com/shuttles.

Stops on the “railroad” will include the Enos Apartments on 3rd Street, the New Bethel-Rocky Fork AME Church and the Union Baptist Church.

Summer reading

You may have picked up that we here at the News-Democrat are BIG fans of words. Books and summer reading programs make perfect sense to us.

At 7 p.m. Saturday, the Friends of Belleville Public Library is throwing a trivia night to benefit the Children’s Summer Reading Program at Althoff High Heritage Hall, at West Main Street and Frank Scott Parkway. Tickets are $12 a person, and you can have six to eight folks at your table. Make a reservation by calling 618-277-7145. You can bring your own snacks, and soda is available to purchase.

The BND’s own Roger Schlueter, also known as “The Answer Man,” is the master of ceremonies.

Be neighborly

With wind chills in the high teens, it’s a great weekend to check on your neighbor. Several medical conditions, including diabetes, Parkinson’s disease and arthritis make it harder for the body to stay warm, according to the National Institute on Aging.

Keep the following symptoms in mind when talking with friends and neighbors, as they can be signs of early hypothermia. In addition to cold feet and hands, look for a puffy face, pale skin, and your friend having slower than normal speech or slurring words. People with hypothermia might also act sleepy or be angry or confused. Later signs of hypothermia include being clumsy, stiff or jerky movements, a slow heartbeat, shallow breathing and loss of consciousness. The National Institute on Aging suggests calling 911 immediately if you see those symptoms.

This story was originally published February 12, 2016 at 9:43 AM with the headline "Five Things to Do This Weekend: Walk for chocolate, buy art for pets, ride a railroad."