Give!Local kickoff: Very auspicious and very Asheville

Give!Local raised nearly $1,000 in its opening day and many of the nonprofits raised additional money at the kickoff event. Thirty nonprofits, their boards, two food vendors, three bands, a dinosaur and a ghost pepper all convened along with about 200 people from the public.

Small bites: Poppy Handcrafte­d Popcorn celebrates one year

Poppy Handcrafted Popcorn is offering fans free popcorn and more during the company’s first anniversary celebration. Meanwhile Standard Pizza Co., has a new downtown location; Asheville’s gluten-less population convenes for an educational event; Black Mountain Ciderworks is throwing a Halloween bash and Bomba is rolling out a multi-cultural menu.