LANARK — Small-town traditions often survive because each generation decides some things are worth repeating — a parade route, a beer tent, a child clutching a balloon animal, or the sound of live music drifting across a park.

Some are events that fill the streets with smiles and some are fleeting moments between a few friends, others are a chance for families to share special times — but stitched together they become the shared memories that can bring communities closer together, the rituals they look forward to revisiting.

And in Lanark, they are Old Settlers Days, a tradition almost as old as the town itself.

Returning June 26-28, the annual festival features food, vendors, a parade, live music, kids activities, races, a beer garden — and this year, celebrations honoring America’s 250th birthday, a fitting addition to the itinerary given the event’s origins, born of a show of patriotism and pride.

The event’s first celebration reaches back to 1874 — about a decade after the town’s founding — held to honor local veterans of the Civil War. Except for a 20-year period in the 1960s and 1970s, the event has been an annual tradition in Lanark that has gone through several changes, while still keeping the goal of creating an event that’s fun for all.

Coordinating the historic festival is the responsibility of a nine-person committee, led by co-presidents Alisha Metz and Marissa Giedd. Metz grew up in Lanark, and the event’s been part of her life for nearly 45 years, having attended her first one as a young child. She remembers a time when it was “cool” for kids to have an Old Settlers Day button on their shirt (which was also at one time a ticket for admission). Her children enjoyed it years ago, and she’s seeing her grandchildren like it just as much, she said.

Button sales are a thing of the past now, and most events are free.

“Old Settlers Days is about community, families and fun,” Metz said. “It’s about getting everyone together in Lanark just to enjoy each other’s company, and hopefully other people from other counties will come in and enjoy it. I remember all of the fun we used to have, and now we’re trying to bring some of those things back this year, especially with it being the big 250th.”

One of Metz and Giedd’s goals this year is to make the event fun for all age groups, having identified some areas where activities weren’t as appealing for younger ages. They’ve added new activities to the schedule to fill those gaps, including a treasure hunt where children can dig through large sand piles to find toys.

“One of the things that people have told us is about how we didn’t have things for all ages,” Giedd said. “This will be the first year where we’ll absolutely have things for every single age. There’s something for everyone to participate.”

Like Metz, Giedd has fond memories of the event, and she hopes to be able to help her own two children create the same. She’s lived in Lanark since she was a child, and at 34 is the youngest person on the festival’s committee.

“I want them to come participate and remember those things,” Giedd said, adding that she looks forward to hearing her kids grow up and say “Remember when we used to do this …”

It’s special, she said, “Being able to reminisce with people on what it was, how it’s changed.”

The weekend of activities begins at 3 p.m. June 26 with food and craft vendors, and a large bounce house for kids at the park. The beer garden under the Eastland Motorsports Main Tent also opens at 3 p.m. that day and runs until midnight. Exotic animal shows from Scales and Tales of Chicago will be at both 5 and 7 p.m. Paint in the Park is from 5 to 7 p.m. when participants create paintings on canvas board to later be posted throughout the park (canvas cost is $5). A quarter-mile fun run for kids is at 5:45, with registration beginning 15 minutes earlier. Laser tag for the older kids is from 7 to 10 p.m., and 3 On the Tree will play from 7 to 11 p.m. at the Tent. An after party will be at Lanark’s bars from midnight to 2 a.m.

Saturday morning’s events kick off at 8 a.m. with the Stronger Together Raging Road Rally 5K run. Proceeds from registration support local residents Carlee Tessendorf and Callie Plager, who are battling breast cancer; registration is at 7 a.m. at On the Move Community Fitness Center, 125 W. Locust St. Prizes will be awarded to attendees who wear pink during the run.

A car show will be from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on the streets surrounding the park, with 3-D Sound of Dixon providing music; about 60 cars were showcased last year. Food and craft vendors open for the day at 9 a.m. The “Happy 250th Birthday America” parade begins at 11 a.m. and runs along Broad Street south of downtown; the beer garden also opens at the same time. The treasure hunt begins at 11:30 a.m. at 213 W. Carroll, a block south of the park. Face painting by Ms. Rosie will be from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Several events begin at noon Saturday, including a petting zoo, axe throwing, kids games, Bingo, a kiddie tractor pull, balloon animals from Pickles the Clown, and the bounce house. Kiddie water fights begin at 1 p.m., a Happy Hour with music by Charlie Rae is from 3 to 5 p.m. at the Tent, and more music continues there from 7 to 11 p.m. with The Beaux. The night concludes with another after party at the town bars.

Sunday’s events begin with a church service at the Tent from 10 to 11 a.m. by the Eastland Council of Churches, followed by pork chops and dessert from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. The festival concludes with an antique tractor pull at Eastland Motor Sports, 110 state Route 64, at noon.

Some events held in recent years, such as a pony show and Chicken Drop Bingo — where prizes are determined by a number where a chicken deposits its droppings — are not returning to the itinerary this year.

The vendor shows will have plenty of young entrepreneurs, up to high school ages, in addition to established ones in the community. For some of the kids, it’s an opportunity to learn how to sell, market, practice customer service and explore their interests, Giedd said.

“They’ll be able to showcase their things,” Giedd said. “We have a lot in our community. They get to know what it takes to set up and tear down. There are a lot of things they can learn from it.”

The festival committee puts on fundraisers to keep it going; some recent ones include Donuts with Friends in January, a donut decorating event for kids who shared in the fun with costumed cartoon characters such as Bluey, Skye, Spider-Man and Olaf; and Egg My Yard in April, where it sold plastic Easter eggs with treats and scattered them throughout the yards of those who bought them for their kids to have an egg hunt.

Other annual events put on by the committee include a Kids Market from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Aug. 1, the Fall Festival from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Oct. 11, the Lighted Christmas Parade at 6:30 p.m. Nov. 28 and Santa’s Workshop from 9 to 11 a.m. and 2 to 4 p.m. Dec. 5.

For Metz, Giedd and others involved, Old Settlers Days represents something larger than just a schedule of attractions or annual fundraising efforts – it is a way to preserve traditions that once shaped their own childhoods and pass those same experiences on to a new generation. In a town where many families have attended the festival for decades, they hope that today’s children will one day look back on these weekends with the same fondness their parents and grandparents do now.

“I want to keep traditions going in Lanark,” Metz said. “They’re fun family traditions that I remember as a kid, and now I’m a grandma, so I want my kids to come.”

Old Settlers Days is June 26-28 in Lanark, with most activities at the town’s park, 200 W. Claremont St. Find it on Facebook for an up-to-date schedule or email lanarkosd@yahoo.com for more information.