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Community Corner

Dress Up And Scare Cancer At 3rd Annual Panera Bread Spook-a-Thon To Benefit Connecticut Cancer Patients And Their Families

LEDYARD, CT, October 16, 2013 —Panera Bread will host its 3rd Annual Panera Bread SPOOK-A-THON, a Halloween party for all ages on Saturday, October 26th from 10:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. at Dodd Stadium, the home of the Connecticut Tigers on 14 Stott Avenue in Norwich.  Everyone is invited to "Dress Up and Scare Cancer" and walk in masquerade or dance to the music of live bands Llama Tsunami, Déjà Voo Doo and the WCTY Plainville Rotary Talent Show Singers, all to benefit the Connecticut Sports Foundation (CSF) which helps support local cancer patients and their families.  Attendees can also join in on plenty of festive activities that scream family fun throughout the day, including the almost famous Haunted Locker Room.  Other, less frightening, amusements will include Batty Cages, Ye Plain Old Farm Hayrides, a bouncy house, cookie decorating, balloon artistry with April’s Balloon Creations and pumpkin painting with Norwich Free Academy!  If you enjoy competition, the winners of the pie-eating contests will receive exciting prizes.  There will be a special performance from the Griswold High School Cheerleading Wolverines before the Costume Stadium Walk and more prizes for costume contest winners, including Best Adult Costume, Kid Costume and Doggie Costume.

All proceeds from the event will benefit the Connecticut Sports Foundation.  Participants can help raise funds by starting or joining a fundraising team with family, friends or coworkers in the name of each team’s costumes at www.spookathonct.org.  For those that are not on a team, tickets are just $5 at the door.  Donations may also be made via check, Payable to the Connecticut Sports Foundation and mailed directly to CSF, 455 Boston Post Road, Suite 203B, Old Saybrook, Connecticut 06475.  In addition to Panera Bread, other event sponsors of the event are MetroCast and 97.7 WCTY-FM.

“This year’s SPOOK-A-THON is sure to be a treat for the whole family,” said Wendy Kopp, Director of Marketing for Panera Bread/Howley Bread Group.  “So, register for a team, start looking for that costume and get ready to have fun scaring cancer for a great cause!”  Kopp added that Panera customers can also do their part to support Connecticut cancer patients and their families by donating at the registers of the fifteen participating bakery-cafes in Connecticut (Bristol, Buckland Hills, Canton, Enfield, Foxwoods Resort & Casino, Farmington, Glastonbury, Groton, Hartford, Lisbon, Manchester, Newington, Waterford, West Hartford and Wethersfield) through Saturday, October 26th.  Those that donate to the SPOOK-A-THON at the bakery-cafes will be given a flyer which includes one Enter to Win raffle ticket for each of the following prizes: a Deluxe Suite at Dodd Stadium, a pair of tickets to the Keith Urban Concert at Mohegan Sun Arena on November 15th and free Panera coffee for one year. Customers are asked to bring the flyer to the event and submit their entries at the registration table.  No purchase necessary to enter to win.  One winner per prize.  Need not be present to win.

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Bagels, pastries and coffee will be provided at the SPOOK-A-THON by Panera Bread during the morning check-in from 10:00 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.  Hot dogs and hamburgers will be available at lunchtime for a nominal donation to CSF.

The Connecticut Sports Foundation is a non-profit-IRS 501 (C)(3) corporation chartered by the State of Connecticut which raises funds to directly assist cancer patients and their families with living expenses (rent, mortgage payments, food and utilities).

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Panera Bread bakery-cafes are open for breakfast, lunch and dinner and offer a variety of menu items, including breads and bagels, breakfast sandwiches, creative lunch and dinner sandwiches, pastas, hand-tossed salads, homemade soups and a variety of espresso beverages.  Panera Bread Catering also caters and delivers its full menu for any occasion at the office or home.  The breakfast, lunch and dinner assortment is sure to impress every time.  For a Panera Bread Catering menu and more, please visit the cafe or www.paneracatering.com.

One of Panera’s top franchises, the Howley Bread Group, LTD of Cumberland, Rhode Island owns and operates a total of twenty-six bakery-cafes in Eastern Connecticut, Rhode Island and Southeastern Massachusetts markets. To register a SPOOK-A-THON team today, please visit www.spookathonct.org or for more information go to the company’s web site atwww.panerabreadhbg.com.

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