“Drivers, start your engines!” With those words and the deafening roar of stock cars that followed, my first-ever NASCAR experience began.

Pinch yourself. No, this isn’t an attempt to determine your pain tolerance level. Waterboarding is now definitely a no-no here in the United States. Rather, the pinching is simply an interactive approach of saying we’ve survived the first half of 2009.

Members of some generations may well-remember those five-and-dime stores that offered “penny candy” for, well, mere pennies. Confections may cost more now than they did back then, but such products have remained an affordable luxury, for the most part, even in these difficult economic times.

Call it a victory for common sense. Last week at the Organic Trade Association (OTA)’s All Things Organic show in Chicago, Deputy Agriculture Secretary Kathleen Merrigan presided over the signing of an organic equivalency agreement between the U.S. Dept of Agriculture (USDA) and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA).

Typically, it’s an intense week whenever the National Confectioners Association’s ALL CANDY EXPO rolls into town in the middle of May. Let’s face it, the former candy capital of the world understands the importance of having confectioners in town to showcase the latest treats, thus facilitating a bit of sweet and savory wheelin’ and dealin’ on the shores of Lake Michigan.

In case you missed it, yesterday was National Rocky Road Day. Your day planner might have omitted this particular celebration, its pages being committed to mainstream holidays such as Father’s Day, the Fourth of July and, yes, Flag Day (Betsy Ross would be so proud).

During this year’s 11th annual European Suppliers Roundtable, representatives from the leading equipment and ingredient suppliers to the global confectionery marketplace wrestled with a host of questions dealing with the economic downturn.

The season finale of MTV’s “Taking the Stage,” a critically acclaimed reality show that follows the lives of teens attending a high school for the performing arts in Cincinnati, Ohio, was titled “The X Factor.”

Innovations in the confectionery and publication industries are encouraging people to use their senses – but not in the conventional way.

There’s been an awful amount of news crossing my computer screen these days - the emphasis on awful - everything from Salmonella recalls and plant consolidations to bankruptcy rumors and layoffs.