A weekend of activities has been planned at West Fallowfield Christian School (WFCS) on Friday and Saturday, Oct. 10 and 11. Events will include the seventh annual fun run and the 44th annual auction. Community members are welcome to participate.

Events will begin on Oct. 10 with the fun run, during which participants will be invited to walk or run 1 mile around the WFCS campus. Registration will open at 4:45 p.m., and the run will begin at 5:30 p.m.

Last year, participants were doused with color along the course. This year, it will be bubbles. "You get the bubbles at the start and the whole time throughout, and then we will have a big bubble machine at the end, which is supposed to produce mass amounts of bubbles - almost like a foam," explained Jaquelynn Hoopes of Gap, who is co-chairing the event for the first time, along with Amanda Malavolta of Coatesville.

The fun run is open to people of all ages, especially families with children. "It stays all on our campus. It goes from the soccer field around the playground, and it loops back to the soccer field again," said Hoopes, noting that more than 100 participants took part in the event last year. "We get a lot of families that do it together. It says run, but obviously you could walk or jog. A lot of people have younger kids with strollers, and they do the course with the kids. It's just a big family gathering."

There will also be an auction preview on Oct. 10, so people can see all of the items that will be up for bids the next day.  Also featured will be a bake sale and a sale of gift cards. "Whatever gift cards we get donated, we just sell at face value," Hoopes noted.

Live and silent auctions will be held on Oct. 11 Doors will open at 8 a.m. Bidding will be held from 9 a.m. to noon. Auction items will include home decor, outdoor equipment, themed gift baskets and sports memorabilia.

Also up for bidding as part of the live auction will be teacher experiences where teachers may offer to take children on an outing or provide a pizza lunch at school.

Students also create artwork for the auction. "Each grade - preschool through high school - contributes. Most of it is something they do in art class," said Malavolta. "The middle school will have a giant outside Jenga, and they are going to decorate all of the blocks. Kindergarten is doing a mirror, and around the outside of the mirror they're putting their fingerprints to make butterflies, caterpillars and flowers."

WFCS students will also help with the auction, serving as runners for the auctioneer, Dave Longenecker.

There will also be an opportunity for people to win a grand prize through a random drawing. The three-pack prize includes a small chest freezer, a 36-inch Blackstone grill and a $300 gift card to a local butcher shop.

A Kids Zone child care area with games and face painting will be open during the live auction for children age 3 through third grade.

Breakfast sandwiches and lunch items, including homemade soup, will be served during the auction.

Both Hoopes and Malavolta, who are cousins, are excited to be first-time chairs of the fun run and auction. Both attended WFCS and now have children attending the school.

"We and our parents used to help out with the auction, so its like a full-circle moment," said Malavolta. "This is the first year that both of our kids are in school and we helped take over the auction."

"It's just cool to be able to be a part of it, but in a different way," added Hoopes. "All of our kids are growing up the same way we did, and then hopefully their kids will be able to come here. It's a generational thing."

Proceeds from the auction, food sales and fun run registrations will benefit the school's operating budget. WFCS offers a Little Falcons Preschool for youngsters ages 3 to 5, a full-day kindergarten program and classes for students through 12th grade. WFCS, founded in 1941, serves students from the Avon Grove, Coatesville, Octorara, Oxford, Pequea Valley, Solanco and Unionville-Chadds Ford area school districts. Busing is provided, and financial aid is available.

For more information about the events, visit www.facebook.com/westfallowfieldchristianschool or call the school office at 610-593-5011. More information about the school is available at www.wfcs.org.