The Strasburg Lions Club and the Lampeter-Strasburg (L-S) Community Band are once again joining forces to continue a summer tradition.

The 33rd annual Strasburg Veterans Concert will be held at 7 p.m. on Sunday, July 27, on the lawn in front of the Strasburg Borough Office, 145 Precision Ave., Strasburg.

The event is free. Visitors should bring lawn chairs and blankets for seating. If the weather is bad, the concert will be held at the Strasburg Fire Company, 203 Franklin St., Strasburg.

L-S Community Band director Howard Boots said the veterans concert is one of the highlights of the season. "This has been one of the concerts that we've done the most," he said. "I think now the public has kind of received it as a proper honoring of the vets with (the band) playing great tunes, great American tunes."

The set list will be composed of "The Star-Spangled Banner," "America" (from "West Side Story"), "His Honor," "The Homefront," "Rainy Days and Mondays," "Big Fun in the Sun," "Wayfaring Mountaineer," "Armed Forces, The Pride of America," "God Bless America," "To Those We Remember," and "Stars and Stripes Forever."

"I think we've done it long enough where the community looks forward to it and really appreciates the nod to the veterans," said Boots. "We play a wide variety of music, but obviously there are tributes to the veterans. We do the service songs, we do 'Stars and Stripes Forever,' which we don't always do. We usually save it for that concert."

The Strasburg Lions have sponsored the concert since 2014. Club secretary Jim Rice said the tradition was started by Donald A. Bachman, who teamed with the local VFW. "Donald was a pretty well-known citizen here in Strasburg and a very patriotic person," said Rice. "He wanted to do something to give back to the veterans and people that had served."

Bachman's passing in 2013 left a void with people discussing how to continue the events he had started.

"People were trying to figure out how to keep his legacy going," Rice said. "(Strasburg Borough) called around the different organizations to see what people could do to promote these events and keep them going. And we chose to do the veterans concert."

Rice noted that summer is an ideal time for such an event. "Our meetings are from September to June, and we don't want to lay dormant in the summer months," he said. "We want to keep our activities going within our club and then also within the community as well."

The concert has special meaning to Boots, who served in the Pennsylvania Air National Guard for 24 years. "Anytime we can honor the vets and keep them in the forefront of people's minds in the community is good," he said.

The L-S Community Band was formed in 1992. "A small-town community band concert is such a long tradition here in Strasburg," said Boots. "There was always a celebration in music here. Even long before (the L-S Community Band), every community had their like little bands and things like that."

The band has 46 members with varying levels of experience, and everyone is welcome to join. "It's really been growing," said Boots.

The director stated that he enjoys the camaraderie among the musicians. "As I always tell the band, one of the cool things about the band is I meet people, and we get to know one another," said Boots. "Probably, if it wasn't for music, we'd never, ever meet each other or learn about each other. Because of music, we come together, and that's what's cool with the community. It's an opportunity ... to bring people together in the name of the veterans and our great country we live in."

The L-S Community Band rehearses Wednesdays at 6:30 p.m. at the Community United Methodist Church, 130 Tennyson Drive, Lancaster. Go to http://www.lscband.com for more information.

The Strasburg Lions Club provides support to numerous local community organizations. Anyone interested in joining can call Rice at 717-575-7462 or email jfrice14@gmail.com.