This weekend Cathedral School will celebrate its 163rd Fall Festival.

This is one of the longest running festivals in the South. The whole community is invited to come out and enjoy the fun, fellowship, family and friends. There is something for all to enjoy during the weekend.

The festivities get started on Friday with the Cathedral Green Wave football team taking on West Lincoln at 7 p.m. for the homecoming game at D’Evereaux Stadium.

Bring your children and grandchildren Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. to enjoy the midway games, cake walk, dunking booth, class art projects and face painting, and new this year for the adults is a sports tent where they can go watch their favorite teams, participate in a raffle for a recliner, or just keep up with the scores.

You can also enjoy delicious foods like our traditional juicy burgers or purchase casseroles, scratch cakes, books, Cathedral merchandise and homemade candy or cookies.

Raffle chances will be available for various prizes including a Bad Boy Buggy, Orange Beach vacation getaway, $2,500 in cash, laptop computer, bed of dreams, iPod Touch, $1,000 savings bond, flat screen TV, basket of cheer, gasoline gift certificates and a set of Vera Bradley luggage.

The ever-popular class theme baskets will also be on display. The baskets are available through a silent auction that begins on Saturday and ends at 2 p.m. Sunday. Baskets this year include a little girl’s room, beach getaway, his and her pets, fun in the kitchen, lads and lassies toyland, bling for ladies, ultimate game room, great Natchez events, everything New Orleans, LSU tailgate and walls, floors and more. Every year we are pleasantly surprised by the excitement these generate.

The fun continues Saturday night with the adult dinner and paddle wheel. Plates of barbecue ribs and bowls of gumbo will be available for take-out in Center Drive from 3 to 6 p.m. Dinner inside the cafeteria begins at 6 p.m. and the paddle auction starts at 7 p.m.

We have had many wonderful prizes donated from very generous Miss-Lou businesses and individuals to make up our prize packages that include an overnight stay at the Turpin House, several guided hunts, living, bath and bedroom makeovers, New Orleans Saints tickets with hotel accommodations, a couple outdoor patio packages including a “Big Green Egg” in one, and for the kids, tweens and teens, packages containing items like an electric scooter, iTouch, iPad and much more.

So come join us and take a chance at winning these wonderful prizes.

If you can’t join us, you can purchase a pre-sold paddle for your chance to win them.

Please visit Cathedral’s Web site, www.cathedralgreenwave.com, to see a full list of packages and instructions on how you can purchase a pre-sold paddle.

Come join us for a fun-filled night of prizes, food and drink, which concludes with the drawing of a Bad Boy Buggy.

The festival continues Sunday with the traditional turkey dinner and all its trimmings. Dine in the cafeteria or choose takeout from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. The midway games, food, raffles and other activities will continue on the elementary playground and in the multi-purpose room from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.

As the midway activities come to an end, bingo in the cafeteria begins at 2 p.m. and lasts until 4 p.m. The winners of the raffle items will be drawn during bingo. At 4 p.m., we will close the doors on another successful and fun-filled fall festival weekend.

Gary and I, along with our co-chairs, Dan and Denise Thibodeaux, would like to personally thank all those who have given so generously in time and support toward this worthy cause.

The entire school community, parents, alumni, students, faculty and friends all work together to make this a success.

It would not be possible without the generosity of Miss-Lou businesses and individuals.

We invite everyone to come out and enjoy the fun!

Liz Farmer is a co-chair of this year’s Cathedral Fall Festival.