Candy not necessary for Halloween fun

BY ELLEN MONTEMARANO
Correspondent

CHRIS KELLY staff MIDDLETOWN — Carol Sama was excited about Halloween as a kid. Her goal was to get more candy than her siblings or cousin, she said.

Now, the Long Branch resident says she “would be happy if the holiday is abolished.”

Sama is the mother of Dominick, 2, who is allergic to milk, eggs and peanuts, and therefore can’t eat most candy. When Dominick had his first reaction to milk, “he turned red, got blisters from head to toe,” Sama said. “It looked like he was burning from the inside out. He was fainting.”

According to the Food Allergy & Anaphylaxis Network (FAAN), 11 million Americans, including 3 million children under the age of 18, suffer from food allergies. According to FAAN’s estimates, food allergy reactions result in more than 30,000 emergency visits and 150–200 deaths each year.

This is why the Food Allergy Support Group of Monmouth County sponsored a safe, food-free Halloween party on Sunday at King of Kings Church in Middletown.

“It provides a safe alternative for our kids to enjoy the holiday without being exposed to foods they cannot have,” said the group’s facilitator, Ginny Smith, C.S.W., of Middletown.

The party, attended by more than 35 children and their parents, was food-free. Children at the party made crafts and painted pumpkins donated by Bayshore Nursery in Holmdel, Delicious Orchards in Colts Neck, and Samaha Farms in Aberdeen. They also enjoyed a performance by magician Bruce Bray of Party Pizzaz.

“It takes the emphasis away from food,” Smith said. “It focuses on the positive instead of what the kids can’t have.”

Angie Frankovic, of Little Silver, said she was happy there was no food at the party. Her son, Jack, 18 months, is allergic to milk, soy, eggs, wheat, peanuts, tree nuts (such as walnuts and cashews) and beef.

“I don’t have to chase him and be on top of him today,” Frankovic said. “With all his allergies, he can’t touch any [food]. Last week he had a full-blown asthma attack from just touching milk.”

Parents of food-allergic kids must read labels carefully and make sure that a food is not only free from an allergen, but that it has not come in contact with an allergen during manufacturing. Smith’s daughter, Courtney, 10, is allergic to milk and said she had a reaction from eating an ice pop that was processed on the same equipment as ice cream.

“My lips blew up, my throat started to close and my tongue felt tingly,” Courtney said.

Courtney was treated with an epi-pen shot, an auto-injector that administers epinephrine for severe allergic reactions, and was rushed to the hospital, she said.

At the craft table, Frankovic picked up a bottle of glue, noticed there were no ingredients listed on the label, and asked if it would be safe for her son. Al Wester, of Cliffwood Beach, told her it was all right.

“If my daughter can use it, it is safe,” said Wester, whose daughter, Jeanie, 4, is allergic to dairy, peanuts, beef, egg and lamb. Last year, he said, the family stayed home on Halloween and handed out the only safe candy that Jeanie can eat — Dum Dum Pops. He plans to do the same this year.

Sama plans to take her son trick-or-treating only at the home of her mother and aunts, whom she asked to give him money rather than candy. Courtney Smith plans to trick-or-treat and trade the candy she can’t have for other treats.

Bray, the magician, forgot that he wasn’t at a party for average kids when he asked during his performance “How many kids have ever had a peanut butter and jelly sandwich?”

Only a handful of kids raised their hands and one of the moms replied, “Not many.”

Ginny Smith co-founded the support group in 2000 with Tina C. Zecca, D.O., of the Asthma, Sinus & Allergy Center, Red Bank. The group meets monthly at Dr. Zecca’s Red Bank office. Now more than 80 families belong to the support group, Smith said. For information call Ginny Smith (732) 671-0668 or e-mail ggckc@yahoo.com.

Middletown’s Robert Drehmann, 4, paints a pumpkin, while dressed like the amazing Spider-Man during the Food Allergy Support Group of Monmouth County’s food-free and allergy-safe Halloween party at the King of Kings Lutheran Church Fellowship Hall Oct. 24.