For almost half a century, Manheim Christian Day School has welcomed the community to an annual auction and weekend of festivities for the whole family. The 47th annual Benefit Auction and Family Fun Days will be held on Friday, April 28, and Saturday, April 29, at the school, 686 Lebanon Road, Manheim.

The event will begin on Friday with a pork barbecue dinner available for dine-in or drive-through pickup from 3:15 to 6:30 p.m. The meal will include Peters' Barbecue pulled pork, a baked potato, applesauce, a pickle, a homemade roll, a dessert and a drink. Advance tickets may be purchased by calling the school at 717-665-4300. Limited meals will be available on the day of the event.

At 4 p.m. on April 28, a silent auction will begin. It will run through noon on Saturday, April 29. An official welcome ceremony will be held at 6:30 p.m., followed by a Gummy Bear Challenge, which will pit teams of students and staff members against each other.

At 7 p.m. on Friday, class projects and special experiences will be featured. Each grade will have a project that will be auctioned off, explained Jen Kosydar, events coordinator. These will include the fourth-grade Seed to Sow project, where each student is given money to use toward creating and selling a product in the month leading up to the auction. The product is then auctioned off at the event. Other class projects to be auctioned include a picnic table, fire pits with custom trays, a handmade quilt, photo books and yard games, all personalized by individual classes.

Saturday's events will kick off at 8:30 a.m. with doughnuts, coffee and juice available for purchase. The live auction will begin at 9 a.m., with a variety of items up for grabs. Tools and outdoor items, including hunting, camping and fishing gear as well as lawn and garden equipment, will be featured at 10 a.m. General merchandise and gift certificates will be spotlighted at 11 a.m. Children's activities, including inflatables, a petting zoo, barrel train rides, a giant slide, face painting and games, will run from 9 to 11 a.m., with the inflatables available until 3 p.m. At 11:15 a.m., a candy launch will be held, and at 12:30 p.m., live entertainment by character juggler Chris Ivey will be featured. Also at 12:30 p.m., Mrs. Shelly will lead sports games.

A variety of food will be available for purchase all weekend, including Gene Wenger's hamloaf sandwiches, hamburgers, hot dogs, chicken corn soup, french fries, milkshakes, soft-serve ice cream and homemade baked goods.

Last year's event raised $215,000, Kosydar noted, and organizers hope to exceed that amount this year. Proceeds are used to make Christian education affordable to more families, she said, as well as to purchase new technology and fund essential building projects.

"Come out for great merchandise, experiences, fun kids' activities and food," Kosydar remarked. "There's something for everyone."

Times for the auctions are subject to change. For more information on the event, visit http://www.manheimchristian.org.