It's a busy weekend at Conestoga Christian School (CCS) on Friday, Oct. 16, and Saturday, Oct. 17. Events will include a chicken barbecue, alumni activities and the school's 53rd annual auction. Community members are welcome to participate.

The event will begin with the chicken barbecue dinner on Friday. Diners may purchase their chicken in a drive-through format from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., or they may choose to dine in at the school gymnasium from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m.

Also on Friday evening, there will be an alumni soccer game followed by a powderpuff football game.

"We have a dine-in option, and that's nice because it gives families a chance to come to campus and eat with us," said Elisa Hall, events coordinator at the school. "Then, a lot of people head outside, out back to the soccer field for the soccer game and the powderpuff game."

The live auction on Saturday will be held from 9 a.m. until the last item is sold. On the auction block will be experiences, tickets to local attractions, memorabilia and more. Two big-ticket annual items are getaways to a beach property in Florida and a lakefront property in Tennessee.

Also featured will be artwork, some made by the students themselves. Each grade level at the school will also be doing baskets, which range from fire pits to canoes to traditional baskets.

"We also had homemade jam by a great-grandmother this year," Hall said. "A lot of the class baskets have tickets to different things."

Like last year, an online auction will be offered as well. Bidding will start on Thursday, Oct. 15, at 8 a.m. and run through Thursday, Oct. 22, at 8 p.m. Bidders can visit http://www.conestogachristian.net/bbqauction for online bidding, as well as to obtain tickets to the barbecue.

Weather permitting, the weekend will be closed with a helicopter candy drop on one of the auxiliary athletic fields.

Proceeds from the weekend will be used to support the financial operations of the school, which offers classes for students in preschool through 12th grade. The weekend's events will be held rain or shine. In the case of inclement weather, activities will be moved indoors.

Hall said that the auction typically raises around $60,000 to $70,000 for the school, which enrolls 354 students from 10 different school districts from all over the area, sitting right on the line between Lancaster, Chester and Berks counties.

"The last thing we want to have to do is raise tuition costs," Hall said. "It's great if we fundraise to kind of keep costs to a minimum."

The auction and barbecue is one of the school's biggest fundraisers, along with its Race for Education in the spring and golf outing at the end of every school year.

The school is located at 2760 Main St. (Route 23), Morgantown. Overflow parking and a shuttle service will be available at Conestoga Mennonite Church, which is located across the street from the school.