October 31 is Halloween -- and in Pennsylvania, the Halloween season carries special meaning. Here are some interesting facts about Halloween, fall-related fun and how it all relates to the state of Pennsylvania.
* Pennsylvania is one of the top five pumpkin-producing states in the country, harvesting 1.31 million pounds in 2005. In 2011, heavy rains and flooding wiped out much of Pennsylvania's wholesale pumpkin crop, mainly in the eastern half of the state.
* The tradition of trick or treating for UNICEF started in a Northeast Philadelphia, Pa., neighborhood in 1950 by Mary Emma Allison. The young mother's idea to collect money in milk cartons for undernourished children turned into one of the largest youth volunteer fundraising efforts in the country.
* Stephen Clarke of Havertown, Pa., is listed in "The Guinness Book of World Records" as being the fastest pumpkin carver in the world. Clarke carved one ton of pumpkins in 3 hours 33 minutes 49 seconds, setting the world record for the task. Clarke has also won records for carving a single pumpkin in the shortest time (24.03 seconds) and for carving the most pumpkins in one hour (42).
* In 2011, Gerry Checkon's gigantic, 1,676-pound pumpkin broke the record for the largest pumpkin in Pennsylvania. The Pennsylvania Giant Pumpkin Grower's Association conducts an annual pumpkin weigh-off in Altoona, Pa.
* In 2011, Haunt World Magazine ranked the Philadelphia area's Bates Motel & Haunted Hayride and the Pennhurst Asylum Haunted Attraction the number one haunted house attractions in the United States. The spooky hayride is located deep in a 200-year-old forest full of overgrown trees, while the asylum is located in a 100-year-old abandoned mental institution.
* Several horror and supernatural films have been filmed in Pennsylvania, including "The Blob" (Phoenixville, Downingtown, 1958), "The Sixth Sense" (Philadelphia, 1999) and "Night of the Living Dead (Evans City, 1968).
* The CYACC Halloween Parade in Meadville, Pa., is said to be the largest nighttime Halloween parade in Pennsylvania, attracting as many as 20,000 spectators along the parade-route streets of downtown Meadville each year.
* Those treats in your Halloween bag likely came from Pennsylvania. The Hershey Company, headquartered in Hershey, Pa., is the leading North American manufacturer of quality chocolate and chocolate-related grocery products as well as non-chocolate confectionary.
* Pennsylvania is home to one of the largest corn mazes in the country. Lancaster's Cherry Crest Adventure Farm boasts "the world's largest interactive game" with a 5-acre corn maze that features 2.5 miles of paths. The theme of the maze changes annually.
Victoria Leigh Miller is a freelance writer and lifelong Pennsylvanian.
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