JAKE DE PAUL: PROCTOR TREATS >>>

Every Halloween, the businesses in the Proctor District load up their candy bowls from 4 to 6 p.m. for a safe trick or treat experience for the kiddies.

It’s popular, to say the least.

Last year I suggested an early Halloween dinner in the Proctor District for those who are childless as a way to check out the parade of costumes and score a delicious dinner.

It’s still a great idea. Here’s the story that ran last year. I know Babblin’ Babs Bistro and Pour at Four have new menus.

Reserve your spots close to the windows today.

LINK: South Sound Restaurant Guide

MATT DRISCOLL: TV NATION >>>

If you watch the television sitcom Scrubs â€" which I actually don’t â€" there’s a good chance this news will mean something to you.

On Sunday, Nov. 9, at UPS’s Schneebeck Concert Hall, The Blanks â€" who, according to the press release I just received are better known as “Ted’s Band” from Scrubs â€" will be performing their brand of a cappella and comedy action in the South Sound for the very first time.

Tickets are available at the UPS Information Center and will run you $12. Give them a buzz at 253.879.3419 for details.

If you’re a fan of the show, and better yet a cappella music, now you know.

If you’re not, move along. Nothing to see here.

STEPH DEROSA: ABSENTEE BALLOT THOUGHTS >>>

Sumner is a quaint little town with a quaint little downtown shopping district and quaint little dining establishments all within a quaint walk from each other. Around the corner from this quaint area is some of the best coffee and best time spent¬" Beyond the Bridge Cafe. But if you stick inside the bowels of quaint downtown Sumner you'll find one of my favorite family-owned Italian restaurants called Sorci's Italian Cafe.

As I take a wine break and step inside Sorci's restroom, I immediately feel as though I am in some Italian grandmother's personal bagno.There's a vanity dresser, flowers and framed art. This is no typical boring lavatory.

Someone took the time to decorate this restroom, and this someone wasn't lazy. Without delay, I recalled my Canadian friend's recent question,Why is everyone already voting when there are still13 days left until Election Day? She had seen the multiple MySpace headlines stating that some of us had already voted, and it confused her, from her Canadian standpoint. I explained that we voted by absentee ballot. Then I joked about how we're lazy Americans and voting is easier by mail, as opposed to showing up at an official polling station on Nov. 4.

No, I don't really think an absentee ballot is lazy. Find out what I really think here.

BRAD ALLEN: MOVIE FUND-RAISER >>>

A couple weeks ago the Weekly Volcano alerted you fine readers to Randy Sparks' film It Don't Rain On Sunny Days. 

Anyway, Sparks will hold another fund-raiser for the flick Sunday at The Swiss - this time it's blues instead of comedy. Hosted by Randy Oxford, the lineup will include The Trevalyan Triangle, The Randy Oxford Band, Kim Archer Band, Nicole Fournier and her 3lb Universe, Loose Gravel and the Quarry, Swampy Draws and, um, rockers I Defy.

Sparks and his crew will shoot a short scene for the movie during the show.

[The Swiss, Sunday, Oct. 26 6 p.m. to close, $5, 1904 Jefferson Ave., Tacoma, 253.572.2821]

SUZY STUMP: HISTORIC TACOMA WATCH LIST >>>

OK, you live in Tacoma. You get this nifty block system. You know where old City Hall is. Find the Heidelberg Brewery? Not a problem. You’re ready to take it to the next level. That’s right, saving the city's past. Keeping historic Tacoma alive. How can you help?

Historic Tacoma developed a Watch List of nine architecturally significant historic sites on its mind. These sites, Tacoma’s history, are undergoing transition: some are ready to collapse, some are for sale, some are facing demolition, some are target practice for birds.

“Through our Watch List, we want to increase awareness of sites that are vulnerable â€" these are the buildings and streetscapes that tell Tacoma’s story. We are literally watching these sites with concern and interest; each one contributes to Tacoma’s rich and unique built environment,” notes Historic Tacoma Board President, Sharon Winters, in a press release.

Historic Tacoma’s Watch List includes:

• Brewery District
• Pivotal buildings include the 1901-19 Pacific Brewing & Malting Company (for sale), Alt Heidelberg Brewery (facing demolition), 1927 Meadowsweet Dairy (for lease), 1910 City Shops &  Stables, and the 1911 Nisqually Power Plan Substation
• Elks Lodge, 1901 (for sale)
• First Congregational Church, 1907-08 (vulnerable)
• Luzon Building, 1891 (rehabilitation in process)
• John R. Rogers Elementary School, 1907 (for sale)
• Murray Morgan Bridge, 1913 (in transition)
• Trinity United Methodist Church, 1913-15 (rehabilitation in process)
• Union Club, 1888 (for sale)
• Wedge Neighborhood (seeking historic district status) Pivotal buildings on S. Sheridan include the Titlow Mansion

Are these sites history?

Again, I refer to the press release, “Historic Tacoma does not currently have the means to purchase, restore, or otherwise save any of the listed sites.  The organization is committed to bringing parties with the necessary resources and expertise together and to providing technical advice as requested.  But some of the sites will only be preserved with the support of local and involved grass root advocates.”

Watch Historic Tacoma’s Watch List at its Web site. Keep an eye on it. Read the descriptions of each site. Maybe even save one of these sites yourself. 

SUZY STUMP: HERBAN CAFÉ TO REOPEN >>>

The Herban Café’s temporary closure a month ago may have freaked some Tacomans, especially coupled with the closing of Shakabrah Java and Stadium Bistro, but the Sixth Avenue café’s reopening the morning of Sunday, Oct. 26 will restore faith in the local restaurant scene, and give another boost to the local art scene.

I've said it several times before, but it's still worth noting again: There's never been a stronger art season in Tacoma than the one we just experienced. Besides the growing gallery scene and strong shows at the museums, art became active and visible to those who might not normally care. Every Friday at noon, for 29 weeks in a row now and counting, the Frost Park Chalk Challenge has consumed the small patch of park in downtown Tacoma that is its namesake with chalk artists, bloggers, media types and average onlookers. Businesspeople ate their lunch and browsed. Pierce Transit riders stopped and pointed. The Tacoma blogs burst with chalk art photos, comments and, yes, votes every week to determine a winner.

When the Herban Café reopens Sunday, it will showcase a new chef, and a Frost Park Chalk Challenge retrospective art show on its walls. The Frost Park Chalk Challenge retrospective will be shown the night before and curated by illustrator James Stowe.

Three weeks after Tacoma artist R.R. Anderson introduced chalk art competitions to the Friday lunch get-togethers at Frost Park, Stowe began to apply his chalk to the park’s pavement, grabbing several first place prizes along the way, including Chalk Challenge No. 16, which resulted in a solo art show to be hung at the Herban Café. 

“Originally it was meant to be a solo show with a catered opening, but I am an illustrator by trade and do not really have many gallery ready pieces,” explains Stowe. “So, I decided to share my show with the rest of the Frost Park chalkies and turn it into a celebratory retrospective type show that everyone could contribute to.”

The Frost Park Retrospective Gathering and Art Show will be Saturday, Oct. 25 from 7 to 10 p.m., with a private gathering an hour before Herban Café’s doors open to the public. Herban Café owners Steve and Gretchen Nogler will provide free appetizers with beer and wine for sale.

Stowe invited past Frost Park Chalk-Off contestants including R.R. Anderson, Andrea Lowen, Dawn Fortner, Mark Monlux â€" to recreate one of their past entries. He has also invited anyone with pictures taken at Frost Park to frame and hang prints at the show. Naturally, Stowe will also contribute his talents to the retrospective.

“I'm a transplant and had never been to the Pacific Northwest before excepting the job here, so I knew only a handful of local people and virtually no artists. Participating in the Chalk-Offs has really opened Tacoma up to me. I've met great people, incredibly talented local artists and made several good friends,” says Stowe.

[Herban Café, Saturday, Oct. 25, 7-10 p.m., no cover, 2602 Sixth Ave., Tacoma, 253.572.0170]

LINK: Vote for your favorite chalker