A variety of activities have been scheduled for the annual Homecoming Weekend at Hope College, running Friday-Sunday, Oct. 3-5.

Highlights include the 31st annual Run-Walk, a Homecoming parade, a tailgate picnic for alumni, a home football game with TrineUniversity, a worship service, and reunions for the classes of 1988, 1993, 1998 and 2003. The weekend is expected to bring hundreds of alumni back to campus.

Many of the Homecoming events are open to the public.

On Friday, Oct. 3, at 3:30 p.m., Dr. Dr. Brett Bouma, a 1986 Hope graduate who is now with the University of Illinois at Chicago, will present "Advances in Optical Imaging and Translation into Clinical Medicine" in the Maas Center auditorium.  He will be speaking through the college's Gentile Interdisciplinary Lectureship, a divisional seminar in the natural sciences named in honor of Dr. James Gentile, a former dean for the natural sciences who is now president of Research Corporation.

Hope College volleyball will host Olivet College on Friday, Oct. 3, at 6:30 p.m. at the DeVos Fieldhouse.  Tickets are $4 for regular admission and $2 for children under 18, and will be available at the door.

The college's Orchestra and Symphonette will perform on Friday, Oct. 3, at 7:30 p.m. in Dimnent Memorial Chapel.

The De Pree Art Center will be featuring two exhibitions.  The mixed-media exhibition "Shell Games - The Work of Ken Little" is running in the main gallery through Sunday, Oct. 5.  The exhibition "Michigan State University American Indian Heritage Pow Wow Portraits," which features 22 portrait photographs depicting dancers at the 1993 MSU Pow Wow, will run in the corridor gallery on Wednesday, Oct. 1, through Friday, Oct. 31. There will be an open house at the gallery for alumni on Friday, Oct. 3, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.  The gallery is open Mondays through Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sundays from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.

Hope College Theatre is presenting the play "Second Class" by Brad Slaight on Friday-Saturday, Oct. 3-4, and Wednesday-Saturday, Oct. 8-11, at 8 p.m. in the DeWitt Center main theatre.  Tickets are $7 for regular admission and $4 for senior citizens and students, and are available in the ticket office in the front lobby of the DeVos Fieldhouse.  The ticket office is open weekdays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and can be called at (616) 395-7890.  Tickets will also be sold at the door on performance nights.

The 31st Run-Walk will take place on Saturday, Oct. 4, with registration starting at 8 a.m. at the west entrance of the DeVos Fieldhouse. Events will include a health fair in the fieldhouse from 8:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m., a two-mile prediction walk at 10 a.m. and a five-kilometer run at 10 a.m.  Registration information may be obtained by calling the department of kinesiology in the fieldhouse at (616) 395-7070.

Saturday, Oct. 4, will feature multiple alumni and intercollegiate soccer games.  There will be an alumni women's soccer game at 9 a.m. at Buys Athletic Fields, an alumni men's soccer game at 11 a.m. on the front lawn of the fieldhouse, a women's soccer game with St. Mary's College at noon at Buys Athletic Fields, and a men's soccer game with Adrian College at 2 p.m. at Buys Athletic Fields.

The Hope-Geneva Bookstore in the DeWitt Center will be open on Saturday, Oct. 4, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. The bookstore will also sponsor a tent staffed by members of the college's Alumni Board and featuring selected Hope merchandise, primarily clothing, at Holland Municipal Stadium on Saturday from 1:30 p.m. through the end of the college's game with TrineUniversity.

There will be an alumni lacrosse game on Saturday, Oct. 4, at 10 a.m. on the front lawn of the fieldhouse.

The Alumni H-Club's annual Homecoming luncheon will begin on Saturday, Oct. 4, at 11 a.m. at the DeVos Fieldhouse. The club will commemorate the eight teams that won MIAA championships during 1987-88, and will present its "Hope for Humanity Award" to Dr. Ken Weller, a 1948 Hope graduate who is retired after serving as president of Central College of Pella, Iowa, from 1969 to 1990 and was previously a member of the Hope faculty for 20 years.

There will be a tailgate picnic for alumni and their families on Saturday, Oct. 4, from noon to 2 p.m. at Smallenberg Park. Musical entertainment will be provided by the Gasmen, a band comprised of alumni who were students in the latter 1960s.  Tickets for the fifth annual picnic may be ordered in advance for $5 for adults and children age five and above, with admission free for children under five, by sending a check to: Hope College; Alumni Relations; PO Box 9000; Holland, MI 49422-9000 or by credit card by calling (616) 395-7250, or by registering online through the college's myHope Web site. Tickets will also be sold on-site.

At 1 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 4, the Homecoming parade will leave campus at 13th Street and College Avenue and wind its way to Holland Municipal Stadium. The parade will travel north on College Avenue from 13th Street to 10th Street, east on 10th Street to Columbia Avenue, south on Columbia Avenue to 13th Street, and then east on 13th Street to the stadium.

The Flying Dutchmen will host Trine University in football at Holland Municipal Stadium on Saturday, Oct. 4, at 2 p.m. The pre-game show, which begins at 1:30 p.m., will feature the Schoolcraft High School band, which will also be marching in the parade. Halftime will feature the band; the presentation of the 13th annual "Favorite Faculty/Staff Member Award," as chosen by the student body; the introduction of the Homecoming Court; and the crowning of the Homecoming king and queen. In addition, the college's chapter of Mortar Board will be holding a children's book drive at the stadium beginning at 2 p.m. on Saturday.

A Homecoming worship service will be held on Sunday, Oct. 5, at 10 a.m. in Dimnent Memorial Chapel. The service will feature the college's Chapel Choir and Alumni Chapel Choir under the direction of Dr. Brad Richmond of the Hope faculty. The guest preacher will be the Rev. Trygve Johnson, who is the Hinga-Boersma Dean of the Chapel at Hope. Dr. Huw Lewis, professor of music, will be organist.

Events for the reunion classes include a celebration brunch at the Haworth Inn and Conference Center and evening parties on Saturday.  The weekend will also feature reunion gatherings for alumni of color, international students and alumni, alumni of the communication and nursing departments and the Phelps Scholars Program, and cheerleading alumni.

The soccer fields at Buys Athletic Fields are located on Fairbanks Avenue at 12th Street. The De Pree Art Center is located on Columbia Avenue at 12th Street. The DeVos Fieldhouse is located facing Fairbanks Avenue between Ninth and 11th streets. The DeWitt Center is located on Columbia Avenue at 12th Street. Dimnent Memorial Chapel is located on College Avenue at 12th Street. The Haworth Inn and Conference Center is located on College Avenue between Ninth and 10th streets. Holland Municipal Stadium and Smallenberg Park are located on Fairbanks Avenue at 13th Street.  The Maas Center is located on Columbia Avenue at 11th Street.

A full schedule of Homecoming activities and a link to the online registration are available at www.hope.edu/alumni/