The Penn Manor High School Chorus and Orchestra Booster Club will host a bingo fundraiser on Saturday, Nov. 9, at Penn Manor High School (PMHS), 100 E. Cottage Ave., Millersville. The event will feature multiple rounds of bingo, a variety of local vendors and prize drawings.

Doors will open at noon, and bingo will begin at 2 p.m. Various items will be available to purchase from more than 20 vendors, with goods including handmade crafts, crocheted items, baked goods and kitchenware.

The fundraiser will include 20 standard bingo games, and the winner of each game will receive a prize donated by a participating vendor. Four additional games will take place to give players an opportunity to win a large item donated by a local business. The four large prizes will include a family photo shoot from Miranda Eorio Photography, two tickets to the Fulton Theatre, a voucher from LUXE Day Spa and a 55-inch television from Walmart.

Proceeds from the event will benefit the Penn Manor High School Chorus and Orchestra Booster Club, which supports both choruses and the orchestra program in many ways. The organization provides financial assistance for expenses not covered by the choruses' and orchestra's budgets, including instrument repairs, equipment replacements and the purchase of Smartboards for classrooms. The booster club also funds various educational opportunities for students such as collegiate seminars, shows on Broadway, concerts in Philadelphia and trips to Walt Disney World. "We're a little different from traditional booster clubs," said Michele Ericson-Stern, president of the booster club. "We definitely support extracurricular activities for the choruses and the orchestra, but we also supplement places where the school district's budget can't cover it."

Last year, the booster club helped cover the cost of sight-reading classes at Millersville University. The organization is also helping to fund a trip to Walt Disney World next fall, where students in the marching band, choruses and orchestra will have opportunities to perform throughout the amusement park and its surrounding area. In addition to financially supporting field trips and classroom equipment, the booster club funds various scholarships for students who plan to study music in college.

"For many of our students, their music ensemble is a family," said Lauren Ciemiewicz, Penn Manor High School's choral director. "There's just a community aspect of music and performing with one another. I almost can't describe the feeling, but you see it when you look at their faces while they're singing." Ciemiewicz added that the booster club's extra support allows the school's music program to thrive, providing opportunities for students they wouldn't have access to otherwise.

Penn Manor High School's choruses, orchestra and band will perform a free concert open to the public at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 18, in the school's auditorium.

For more information about upcoming concerts, visit http://www.pennmanor.net/calendar.