LISA DENTON: Barry, you know it's hard to pry my fingers off a piece of chocolate, but one area dentist may have figured out a way to make me turn loose of my Crunch bars.

Starting Friday, the day after Halloween, trick-or-treaters can take their excess candy to any Cloudland Dental location or the VW Drive Dental office during normal business hours, and they'll be paid $1 for every pound they turn in.

Normally, that word "excess" would cause me to continue my sugar rush unabated since I don't consider any amount of candy "excess." But Dr. Don Flanagan plans to turn over all the candy he collects to ship to troops serving overseas. Even I'll share for such a good cause.

I know this is mostly for kids, but I'm hoping he'll make an exception and give me one of the glow-in-the-dark toothbrushes he's giving away, too.

BARRY COURTER: Now that's clever times two. You'd never know it to look at me, but I don't eat a lot of candy. Still, I do have my favorites, which is pretty much anything with sugar, chocolate, nougat, caramel or nuts.

By the way, how is the Miley Cyrus costume coming, and have you gotten the whole tongue-stuck-out look down?

LISA: Oh, I'm ready. But it's gonna be a pain dragging around that wrecking ball.

On Saturday and Sunday, we can head down to Ross's Landing for the Head of the Hooch regatta. They're expecting 2,045 boats and 188 crews from four countries to take part. That's a lot of people on the river.

BARRY: You know I love the Hooch race, and I've said before that the whole 21st Century Waterfront project looks like it was created just for it. If there is anyone out there who has not been to the riverfront area in a long time because of some long-held perception of what you think downtown holds, this is the event to change your mind. You might have to walk a block or two, but you see tons of rowers on the river, vendors on Riverfront Parkway and crowds of people from all over the world happy to be where they are.

The viewing opportunities are everywhere, so you won't feel crowded, and you will see an event that utilizes the best of what we have to offer. It really is cool. Oh, and it's free.

LISA: My favorite event this week, though, may be the Sanitation Worker Appreciation Celebration. I believe that's the first time I've seen that come across the calendar. It's a family-friendly event Friday night at Miller Plaza that's supposed to honor the people who operate garbage trucks.

It's a nice gesture and all, but I wonder if they've given any thought to who's gonna have to clean up afterward.

BARRY: Oh, I think you know.

Get event details every Thursday in ChattanoogaNow or online anytime at www.ChattanoogaNow.com.

Contact Lisa Denton at ldenton@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6281. Contact Barry Courter at bcourter@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6354.