Satisfying their sweet tooth

A little boy in an oversized football jersey eyes the tables full of scrumptious-looking, award-winning desserts. Being teased too long with the displays, he decides to make a break for one of the chocolate-dipped biscottis, only to have his mom reign him back in to wait his turn for the real chocolate samples up ahead.\nA few minutes and several pieces of candy later, Biscotti Boy begins spinning around the middle of the room. His younger brother is grinning at him, blissfully unaware of the chocolate smeared across the side of his mouth. Their mother makes a fruitless attempt to get the two partners-in-crime to sit down at a table.\nSuch was the scene at the Fifth Annual Chocolate Festival Saturday. All proceeds from ticket sale went to Options for Better Living, an organization dedicated to assisting individuals with disabilities.\nAbout 500 people attended last year, a number which was easily beaten within the first half hour, said Susan Rinnes, the festival's executive director. \n"A little bit of everyone attends -- kids, adults; chocolate lovers come in all ages," Rinnes said.\nThe musical stylings of jazz duo Ric Heeter and Janiece Jaffe rang throughout the festival. People in line preoccupied themselves with bidding on Valentine's gifts donated by companies around Bloomington.\nSenior Jacki Watson and roommate Colleen Briggs came out for the event dressed as blue and yellow M&M's to pass out cookies to people waiting in line. \n"I'm doing this for the kids and charity," Watson said. "It's fun. Everyone smiles whenever they see us." \nAlthough spirits were high and the majority of people waited patiently for chocolate, some did not feel like waiting their turn. \nA group of girls chose to disregard the auction line and attempted to cut straight to the food, apparently not minding that a camera man was videotaping the chocolate buffet. These would be the same girls that later requested skim milk at the beverage station.\nThe camera man, junior Mike D'Avria, said he didn't feel at all bad about taping people eating for his broadcast project.\n"They paid to come eat as much chocolate as they want," D'Avria said. "They don't have to be embarrassed about it."\nAnd that they did. Since only six-inch plates were provided, people had to pull a balancing act of how many samples they could stack on their plate without dropping them.\nBloomington resident Dave Miller said he didn't have any problem eating his fill, even though the place was packed and the plates were small.\n"One trip to the buffet was enough for me," he said. "The chocolate was good, and I got enough of it -- that's all I really wanted"