The Weyburn and District United Way's annual Communithon has a full slate of entertainment this Friday and Saturday, Oct. 26 and 27, at the Weyburn Legion Hall. The Communithon will begin at 8 a.m. on Friday and end at 5 p.m. on Saturday.

"We are ready to roll. We're setting up on Wednesday and Thursday for 33 hours of continuous excitement," said Jerry Ponto, president of the United Way.

The fund-raising target of the annual event is $108,201.

The opening ceremonies will kick off the event at 8 a.m. The ceremony will be followed by entertainment by school children of all ages, as the schools will be showcasing their voices and musical talent throughout the day, along with a visit from the cheerleaders of St. Dominic Savio.

The schools of Weyburn have the stage until 4 p.m., at which time local entertainers take over for the next 25 hours. There will be 77 different groups of entertainers which will combine upwards of 1,600 entertainers involved in the Communithon. The local entertainers consist of singers, musicians, actors and actresses, comedians and much more.

The entertainers can be watched live on Access 7 or residents can come down to the Legion Hall and watch it live.

"We encourage people to come down to the Legion, it will give people some insight as to how live broadcasts are done. We also encourage people to come down to the hall and dance while the bands are playing." says Ponto.

Also involved in the production of the Communithon is a group of over 300 volunteers that make the Communithon possible and ensure the event runs smoothly.

Many businesses in Weyburn have been kicking off the Communithon with fund-raisers. Some events that are being held by local businesses this week include the Sask Wheat Pool, Weyburn Co-op and Weyburn Credit Union which are co-sponsoring a pancake breakfast on Saturday. The breakfast is being held in the Community Room at the Weyburn Credit Union from 7-11 a.m.

The banks of Weyburn will be tearing up the streets on Friday in their office chairs. The CIBC has challenged all the banks of Weyburn to collect pledges for a race on office chairs. The race begins at 9 a.m. in front of City Hall.

The Knights of Columbus are having a perogy and smokie sale at McKenna Hall Friday and Saturday. Also participating in the sale will be Roy Chuckry selling homemade chocolates. The sale will start at 10 a.m. and run throughout the day until 7 p.m. on both days.

Coffee goers at the Weyburn Inn on Friday will be donating to the Communithon as well. The Inn is donating 50 cents from every cup of coffee sold. Also donating to the United Way is Pharmasave, who will be giving $1 from every two packages of licorice sold. Pharmasave began the contribution on Oct. 15 and it will continue until Saturday. The Elgin Mall is combining its grand opening and a fund-raiser on Thursday, Oct. 25. They are hosting a hot dog and drink sale with all proceeds going to the Communithon.

The funds raised in the Communithon go to benefit the 14 United Way member agencies of Weyburn. The member agencies are the Early Childhood Intervention Program, Special Care Home Auxiliary, Sask. Abilities Council, Arthritis Society, Sask. Association for Community Living, Red Cross, Canadian Mental Health Association, Cystic Fibrosis, Canadian Paraplegic Association, C.N.I.B., Victorian Order of Nurses, Alzheimer Family Support Group, Weyburn Care-A-Van Society and Violence Intervention Program.