It is sometimes difficult to find common ground, to identify things we agree on. A special kind of platonic love, patriotism possesses the power to unite the citizens of the United States.

"To me personally, patriotism means you love your country," said Kellye Martin, who's been heading the Lititz Springs Park board's Fourth of July committee for nine years. "You have the freedom to celebrate. (The country) is a melting pot, and all of our different backgrounds is what we're looking at this year. When you put them all together, it makes a beautiful mosaic. We love to see the red, white and blue everywhere. We have the freedom to gather and put all of our differences aside and say we're grateful for today."

Patriotism will be just one of the major themes celebrated when the park board stages its annual Independence Day festivities for the 207th time at Lititz Springs Park, 24 N. Broad St., on Friday, July 4. There is an admission fee associated with the afternoon and evening celebration, which features entertainment, food and community fellowship and serves as Lititz Springs Park's only fundraiser of the year.

The rain date for event is Saturday, July 5.

"One of the reasons that people love this event is because it feels like something from another era," said Martin. "It's Americana. There aren't many place like this left. These are really special traditions we've held on to, and we want the next generation to experience these events. We want to kind of push the envelope with what we can do."

Festivities will get underway at 11 a.m. with the Lititz Lions Club's patriotic parade through downtown. The 60-minute parade will form at Locust Street and East Main Street, process west to the square, take a left on Broad Street, then a right on Orange Street before disbanding at Warwick High School.

Lititz Springs Park will open the gates for its Fourth of July celebration at noon, and the annual baby parade will get things started at 12:30 p.m. The park bandshell entertainment will feature the Lititz Community Band at 1 p.m., the adult pie-eating contest and the kids' whoopie pie-eating contest at 2 p.m., the yacht rock band Three Hour Tour at 3 p.m., the Jesse Zimmerman Band at 4:30 p.m. and the 11-piece ensemble band The Maxwell Project at 6:30 p.m.

At 8:15 p.m., the traditional Queen of Candles ceremony will be staged, followed by a DJ-infused dance party at 8:45 p.m. Lititz Springs Park's famous choreographed fireworks display will get underway at 9:30 p.m.

"The committee is always asking itself, 'How can we top last year?'" said Martin. "I think we've gotten a reputation of balancing small-town traditions and one of the best fireworks shows around. We try to give everybody what they're looking for. We want to make sure we have enough to fill the day, but we don't want to be overwhelming, so we build in breaks throughout the day. We hope people enjoy it."

The day's events will be spiced up by the presence of 23 food trucks; a kids' zone featuring games, crafts, rides, stories, face painting and a balloon artist from noon to 5 p.m.; and a teen zone starting at 5 p.m.

"I hear people say, 'I remember when ...'" said Martin. "Everyone has a different story to tell. To me, that says how special this event has been for so many years. So many people have made memories with their families."

As many as 12,000 people are expected to attend Lititz Springs Park's Fourth of July celebration - locals, individuals from surrounding communities and folks from across Lancaster County. The park board is hoping to realize $100,000 from the event, which requires about 200 volunteers to stage.

"Lititz Springs Park is a private park for public use, and we get no funds to maintain it," said Martin. "(The Fourth of July celebration is) our one fundraiser, and it's important our one fundraiser does well. The bulk of the money goes into maintaining the park grounds. We have to upgrade our equipment, and we have to pay our staff, and we also operate the welcome center. All of those things are what the Fourth of July funds are used for."