Good Day Alabama for November 1, 2012

Here is what you saw on Good Day Alabama for November 1, 2012...

BEN VEREEN - We talked with Tony-Award Winning Actor Ben Vereen and Ed Fisher about the Cities for Life diabetes initiative. Cities for Life, a diabetes management pilot program underway in Birmingham led by the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) Foundation with support from Sanofi US., kickS off Diabetes Awareness Month today with a meet-and-greet with Tony-Award winning actor Ben Vereen (invitation only). Vereen will tell his personal story about living with type 2 diabetes at the Vulcan Park and Museum. Since program launch in April, Cities for Life, has been building a Community Action Team comprised of local organizations that will work together to link people in target communities who are living with or at risk for diabetes to existing programs and services to help them live healthier lives. To date, more than 30 organizations have joined the Community Action Team.

JEH JEH LIVE - Jeh Jeh joined us live from the Alabama Telco Credit Union at 4720 Chase Circle in Hoover. He talks with Melanie Byrd - mom of this year's Ambassador Family - and Michelle Brown with the March of Dimes. The March of Dimes invites local businesses to participate in Blue Jeans for Babies. Employees can donate $20 and get a t-shirt or $10 and get a Singing Cheer Beanie Bears. Employees are encouraged to wear their t-shirt on Friday, November 16th. This year your shirt options include crimson/gray or navy/orange, as usual. But there's another option this year, also. It also comes in chocolate/pink or blue/green. All shirts this year are white with short sleeves and the logo is in the different colors. Blue Jeans for Babies is Friday, November 16th. Today is the kick-off at Alabama Telco Credit Union's Hoover Branch location. Participating companies can pick up their t-shirts today. Blue Jeans for Babies is a great way to build team spirit and build self-esteem within a company. Everyone is able to participate! It is an easy event to implement and does not cost the company anything. Another big plus is that it does not take any time out of the employee's workday. Most importantly, it demonstrates to employees and customers that the company cares about the community by supporting a great cause! For more information, call (205) 824-0103 or visit http://www.marchofdimes.com/alabama/.

TEDDY BEAR RIDE - Birmingham H.O.G.'S 19th Annual Teddy Bear Ride benefitting Children's of Alabama is this Saturday. Registration begins at 8am at Rider's Harley Davidson in Trussville. Riders head out at noon and arrive at Children's at 1pm. Riders of all types of motorcycles are encouraged and invited to participate! You can donate brand new stuffed animals Birmingham H.O.G. to give the kids at Children's Hospital during their monthly patient visits. Harley-Davidson stuffed animals can be purchased at Rider's Harley-Davidson in Trussville or Heart of Dixie in Pelham for $10-$20. You can also make cash donations online at www.childrensal.org/HOGS. For more information, call Rick Gamble at (205) 259-3987 or email childrenshosp@briminghamhog.com.

CHRISTMAS VILLAGE - The Christmas Village Arts & Crafts Festival is here and it's bigger than ever! It runs today through Sunday at the Birmingham Jefferson County Civic Center. The Christmas Village Arts & Crafts Festival is the largest indoor arts, crafts, and gifts show in Birmingham. This year at the BJCC you will find over 700 booths of unique gifts including custom name art, picture frames, jewelry items, holiday clothing, wooden toys, pet fashions, party dips, hot soups, cider mix, and much more! Show hours are 10 am - 8 pm Thursday through Saturday and noon - 5 pm on Sunday. Admission is still just ten dollars for adults and four dollars for children ages six to twelve. Children under six are FREE. Tickets are available at the door. Get into the Christmas Spirit! Come to the BJCC and do your Christmas shopping, or just shop for yourself! Bring the kids and visit SANTA or just be a kid yourself! It's the biggest and best Christmas Village Festival ever!

MOSS ROCK FESTIVAL - Elise Warren of Technical Knockout joined us as part of Moss Rock Festival's Eco District which includes 40 eco partners. This includes everything from learning how you can become an urban farmer -- to -- getting up close & personal with the latest fuel efficient cars & hybrids at the eco:drive -- to -- signing up for an outdoor outing -- to recycling your old electronics with Technical Knockout at Regions Park. Jonathan Handey at Eco Three explained his company's energy audit services and what that entails. The Annual Moss Rock Festival this year is Saturday from 10am until 5pm and Sunday from 10am until 4pm. The Preserve in Hoover will be a regional focus for art, design & environmental lovers everywhere. The one-of-a-kind outdoor fall festival, which welcomed 15,000 visitors to The Preserve in Hoover, Alabama in 2010, will take place November 3rd and 4th. Come enjoy artists, eco-ideas partnerst featuring green living ideas, products, services and organizations, live music, engaging constructions and installations, a cake expo and tasting, wonderkid studios, wreaths re-imagined, hiking, 5K bike ride, geocaching, fuel-efficient car exhibitions, a café, and the great outdoors. Grab friends and family and get outside to explore nature at this premier eco-creative festival in Alabama. The festival is free. To participate in the Park & Ride services, visitors should park at Regions Park and ride one of the many free festival shuttles to the site.

PET OF the WEEK - Greg Winters from the Shelby County Humane Society introduced us to a pet that needs a new home. Her name is Ginger. For adoptions, call (205) 669-3916 extension 22 or visit shelbyhumane.org.

HOME HOW TO - David Cobbing with Marvin's Building Materials and Home Centers showed us how to stay warn this winter. The main types of indoor heaters are gas (natural gas or propane) and electric. He showed us vent-free gas options. Vent-free gas heaters are designed to be installed and operated without the addition of a vent or chimney. Since there is no vent or chimney, all heat generated goes directly into the home. These are safe to use in your home and you DO NOT need to leave windows open to let fresh air in. Vent-free heaters burn at a 99.9% efficiency. Vent-free heaters actually put off less carbon monoxide than cigarette smoke or the gas stove in your kitchen. These heaters also come with an Oxygen Depletion Sensor (ODS) that will shut off a heater if the Oxygen level falls below 18%. Normal oxygen levels in a room are 21%. A gas wall mount heater, which can be mounted on a wall or you can buy a small base for it to sit on, comes in either infrared or blue flame heating systems and come either with or without thermostats. Infrared is what most people are familiar with. Infrared also are called plaque heaters. Infrared heaters heat like the sun. It gives you instant heat and is good for someone who wants to bring the room temperature up quickly or wants to sit close to the heater and take in the heat. Blue flame heaters heat like a central heat unit. Cool air is drawn in, heated, and then passed on thru the vents at the top. Best choice for someone who has small children as the front grill becomes hot, but shouldn't sizzle to the touch like the infrared unit. Getting a heater with a thermostat is also nice because you can set the heater on the comfort zone you like and it will turn itself on and off to make sure the room temperature stays at the temperature you desire. Gas heaters come in various sizes, 6,000 BTU, 10,000 BTU, 20,000 BTU, and 30,000 BTU. A BTU is a standard used to communicate how much heat a heater produces. A 10,000 BTU heater heats up to 300 square feet. A 20,000 BTU heater heats up to 700 square feet. A 30,000 BTU heater heats up to 1000 square feet. However, the efficiency of a heater depends on the tightness of your house's construction. The tighter the construction the more efficiently the heater will heat a room. Electric heaters are very popular due to customers concern about the high cost of natural gas and propane. Most electric heaters' highest output is 1500W, which translates to around 5000BTUs. The electric stove looks so nice and the flame on it looks real. You can have warm and the look of a fire without actually burning something. The Quartz heater is like an infrared gas heater in that it gives you instant heat. An oil filled heater is great for heating larger rooms as it emits heat from all sides and covers a larger area. The oil is fully enclosed in the heater so you don't have to worry about changing it out. A small standard ceramic heater's small size is great because it takes up minimal space and is easy to transport from room to room. These are nice for an office or cubicle as supplemental heat.

Tomorrow on Good Day Alabama, we talk football! Time for the long awaited match-up between Alabama and LSU! We talk with Paul Finebaum for his take on all the big games this weekend! We discuss a very serious subject - suicide. We look at prevention and signs you should look for you in your loved ones! We have live music in the studio and Mickey's friends from the Birmingham Zoo join us in the studio! And Jeh Jeh heads to Dora for his last Sideline Pep Rally of the year ... that and more tomorrow on Good Day Alabama!