Wanted: Pumpkins to light the way for the Night Walk at 7 p.m. Saturday on the Panhandle Trail in Collier.

The mid-September windstorm that caused widespread power outages also damaged a local pumpkin patch to the extent that the farmer, Pete Beccari, is unable to donate his usual 100-plus pumpkins and still have enough for his customers at his Thoms Run Road farm market.

Mr. Beccari has supplied pumpkins for the Night Walk since it began in 1999.

So, the Friends of the Panhandle Trail are asking individuals to donate or loan pumpkins, either carved or uncarved, to illuminate the trail. Pumpkins may be dropped off at the Rennerdale United Presbyterian Church on Noblestown Road between 9 and 11 a.m. Saturday, where the church's youth group will carve them.

Pumpkins also may be donated or loaned before Saturday to Commissioner Kay Downey-Clarke's back yard at 2520 Hilltop Road, where a tarp has been placed for them.

Or pumpkins can be brought to the trail between 5 and 6 p.m. Saturday. Residents who wish to loan their pumpkins for the event should put their names on the bottom.

The Collier Girl Scouts have filled 500 treat bags for children ages 11 and younger for Night Walk participants. The free event also includes hot chocolate, sweet cider and non-scary stories around bonfires.

-- By Carole Gilbert Brown