Carytown was filled with the living dead last Saturday as scores of ghoulishly costumed people participated in the 15th Annual Richmond Zombie Walk. The event, which draws even more spectators than participants, benefits the American Cancer Society. Participating zombies gathered at a staging area at Boat Lake in Byrd Park, where donations for the cancer society were collected and prizes were awarded in categories including the “Most Disgusting,” “Best Couple,” “Best Group” and “Zombie of the Year.” Photos were taken because, once in character, the zombies were asked to refrain from taking photos during the walk. The creatively costumed group then went to the starting point at the Byrd Theatre where they slithered, lurched, crawled and limped along the sidewalk in full zombie splendor up Cary Street to Nansemond Street, where they turned and paraded the five blocks back to the Byrd Theatre. Already, plans are being cooked up for next year’s pre-Halloween event.

Pumpkins in North Side

The Greater Richmond Convention Center was the first stop last Saturday for the 4th Annual “Spirit of the Heart” tour sponsored by the Association of Black Cardiologists Inc., a Washington-based organization dedicated to eliminating disparities in cardiovascular disease in people of color. The event featured a health and wellness fair, free heart health and other screenings, health information from community-based organizations fitness and nutrition experts and health-related activities for seniors and children. Dr. Phillip Duncan, a Richmond area cardiologist and association member, was a local host of the event, along with Saint Paul’s Baptist Church, Virginia Union University and other ABC members. The Spirit of the Heart tour will continue in Atlanta, Chicago, New York City, San Francisco, and Orange County, California. In this photo, Sequoia Ross, owner of Favour Cookie Company, prepares a vegan cooking demonstrations at the health and wellness fair, including individual tasting containers of her quinoa, beet and cilantro salad.

Essie Sykes, right, has her blood sugar measured by Celina Hu of the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Pharmacy.