(Courtesy/ Mrs. Popelka)

Our US Library’s Candy Madness returned after a long-awaited hiatus on March 1. 

Started by Ms. Popelka during the pandemic, March Madness and student opinions on the library’s candy bowl inspired Candy Madness: a bright light for us during quarantine. Its successful revival involved students convincing classmates to choose a specific candy and reading Mrs. Popelka’s amusing emails. 

Mrs. Popelka assembled conferences based on the type of candy: chewy and hard.

Twizzlers, Skittles, Dots, Maid Royals, Sourpatch, Red Hots, JuJuBes, Runts, Laffy Taffy, Smarties, Gummy Bears, Frooties, Gobstoppers, Swedish Fish, Tootsie Rolls, and Cow Tales were the contenders in the Chewy Confectionery Conference.

In the hard confectionery conference: Jolly Ranchers, Bottlecaps, Sixlets, Pez, Mike and Ikes, Fireball, Nerds, Sweetarts, Lemonheads, Jaw Breakers, Old Fashioned (Grandma’s Candy Bowl), Now & Later, Starbursts, Warheads, Lifesavers, and Airheads competed. 

Thirty-two candies vied for a spot in the finals, going through the Taste-Offs, Sweet 16, Candied Eights, and Semi Sweets, with the victor emerging from the Candy Bowl on March 18.  Around 100 students voted each round, but the finale received a larger turnout of 300. 

Sour patch won the spot, beating Starburst in the finals, with Gummy Bears unable to hold onto its prior title of Candy Supreme when Swedish Fish uncrowned them. The librarians expected Lemonheads to make it further in the contest due to their popularity within the student body but they lost to Starburst. 

Creating Candy Madness was lengthy for Ms. Popelka, who designed the posters on Canva, chose inventive names for each round, picked contenders who fit within a conference’s distinctions, and wrote clever announcement emails. 

Candy Madness is due to make its annual appearance next winter.