We may be past Independence Day, but members of the Kreutz Creek Valley VFW Post 7045 invite the public to continue celebrating our nation's 250th birthday at Stars & Bars. The festivities will be held on Saturday, Aug. 15, at the post, 341 Yorkana Road, Hellam. Breakfast will be served starting at 8 a.m., and the event will continue all day, wrapping up with fireworks at 9:30 p.m.

Held outdoors, the event is free to attend. A car show will run from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., and a mobile video game trailer from ZboyZ will be on-site from noon to 2 p.m.

Activities will include free face painting as well as a dunk tank. A variety of giveaways, including a 50/50 drawing, will be held. Cover Six Canines, a York-based organization that provides free training of service dogs for veterans and first responders, will be on hand for demonstrations and information.

"We will have a DJ from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. and then two live bands - Michele Jameson from 3 to 6 p.m. and No Reply from 7 to 11 p.m," said Mark Henise, Stars & Bars committee chairman. "And special this year in commemoration of 250 years of freedom, we will have a fireworks show at 9:30 p.m."

The event will also include a variety of food and drinks, including orange crushes, which will be new this year.

As Henise explained, the event has significant meaning for the VFW for several reasons.

"It is by far the most important fundraiser for the post, which provides us with the means to continue to support our community year after year," he said. "It is also important to us to host an event that brings our local community together."

The celebration has been held annually since 1975. It started out as a two-day event held on a Friday and Saturday in the summer, but it's now down to one day.

"It originally started as a fundraiser for the VFW scholarship fund for Eastern York High School graduates," Henise said, but the event now raises funds for various community projects of the post.

He hopes people will come out for Stars & Bars, which he said promises to be a fun day.

"We have a relatively small group of volunteers who work very hard year-round to put forth an event that is fun for people of all ages and interests," he remarked. "We are trying some new things this year, and we encourage everyone to come out and join us."

Kreutz Creek Valley VFW Post 7045 is open to anyone who served in or is currently serving in a foreign war, campaign or expedition. The post also offers social memberships. The organization marks holidays such as Memorial Day and Veterans Day and holds events throughout the year, many of which are open to the public.

People are invited to bring lawn chairs for the daylong Stars & Bars event. For more information, follow "Kreutz Creek Valley VFW Post #7045" on Facebook.