Otterbein College has plenty to celebrate at the 2009 Homecoming on Saturday, Oct. 24. Among many highlights, the Cardinal football team is off to a 4-0 start and ranked 13th for Division III football by the American Football Coaches Association. The team will play cross-town rival Capital, while men’s soccer takes on Ohio Northern, both at 2 p.m. Both games are free as part of Otterbein’s annual Community Day. The public is invited to participate in all of the weekend’s activities.

A special feature of this year’s Homecoming weekend will be the inauguration of Dr. Kathy A. Krendl as Otterbein’s 20th and first woman president at 10:30 a.m. on Friday, Oct. 23 in the Rike Center, 160 Center St., Westerville.

A variety of community service competitions and events are planned for Saturday, Oct. 24. The second annual 5k Run/Walk sponsored by Up ’til Dawn to benefit St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital will begin at 8:30 a.m. in front of the Campus Center, 100 W. Home St., Westerville. The cost is $7 in advance and $10 on the day of the event. For more information, visit www.otterbein.edu/uptildawn/.

Students, faculty, staff and alumni at Otterbein and Capital are competing in a Blood Battle to see which school can donate the most blood to the American Red Cross. Donate to the cause from 1- 7 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 16, in the Campus Center, 100 W. Home St., Westerville. Otterbein alumnus Cabot Rea of NBC4 will be on hand from 1-2:30 p.m. to greet people and roll up his own sleeve to give blood. The winning school will be presented with a trophy during the pregame ceremony at the Homecoming game on Saturday, Oct. 24. Alumni can also donate at the Capital Center on Capital University’s campus, and indicate they are donating for Otterbein.

Fans attending Homecoming day events also are asked to help Otterbein “CAN Capital” by donating can goods to local food shelters at the gates of Memorial Stadium on Center Street in Westerville.

The highlight of Homecoming day is the annual parade. The public is invited to check out the Homecoming parade and cheer on Grand Marshalls President Krendl and her husband Richard Gilbert at 10 a.m. as they travel along its route east on Main Street, south on Grove Street, east on College Avenue, north on State Street and west on Home Street, ending in front of the Campus Center.

There will be a tailgate party between 11 a.m. and 1:30 p.m., at the Campus Center, 100 W. Home St., Westerville. Families can enjoy food, inflatables, Columbus Zoo animals, a children's chemistry lab, instrument petting zoo, face painting, pictures with Cardy, decorating food bowls to donate to W.A.R.M. and more.

In celebration of its 100th birthday, the Cardinal Marching Band will unveil their new uniforms at the halftime show of the game. The uniforms were paid for by donors. A special performance will be held at 8 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 24, at the Rike Center, 160 Center St., Westerville.

Otterbein College Theatre will present its season opening show, Babes in Arms at 8 p.m. on both Friday and Saturday, Oct. 23 and 24, in the Fritsche Theatre at Cowan Hall, 30 S. Grove St., Westerville.

Additional activities include the dedication of the reading room for the College Archives in memory of Alice G. Salt, one of the founding members of the Friends of the Otterbein College Courtright Memorial Library, at 11 a.m. in the Courtright Memorial Library on the northwest corner of Main and Grove Streets. Tours of the Archives will be available after the dedication.

For more information on these events, visit www.otterbein.edu/alumni/homecoming2009.