MUNSTER | If you see a soft pink and purple glow rising up from the west this holiday season, don't assume it's the setting sun. The new colors of the season, pink and purple, will light the way to the Lights of Life Trees that will be illuminated for the firs time at 6 p.m. Tuesday at the Community Hospital Outpatient Entrance on Columbia Avenue. The lights will shine brightly throughout the holidays, lighting hope for a cancer cure.

Each brilliant light on the Lights of Life trees shines in honor or memory of the special people who light our lives. For every pink light, a $5 donation has been made to support breast cancer research. For every purple light, a $5 donation has been made to support cancer research. Every individual honored receives a gift card notifying them a light has been lit in their honor.

A special pink breast cancer pin or purple cancer awareness pin may also be sent to an honoree along with a light for a $15 donation.

A special program will accompany the tree lighting, including a performance by the Munster High School Choral Group under the direction of Dr. Timothy Bartlett, followed by a solo performance by Kathy Johnson, Community Healthcare System employee who is also a member of the Northwest Indiana Symphony Chorus.

This year's guest of honor lighting the trees will be Peg Szygenda, of Valparaiso. She serves as leader of Friends of the Cancer Resource Centre, a fundraising auxiliary group that helps to support the Cancer Resource Centre in Munster. On behalf of the Cancer Resource Centre, Szygenda helped start a greeting card program providing an avenue through which cancer survivors could reach out to newly diagnosed patients with a message of support.

After the tree lighting ceremony, all attendees are invited indoors for refreshments.

Cards and pins will be sent out until Dec. 31. All donations to the program are tax deductible and are used to sponsor local research trials for area patients. For more information, call (219) 836-4582. Donations are also accepted online at: www.comhs.orghttp://www.comhs.org/crf/lights_of_life.asp

- For The Times