As the school year winds down, people are starting to think about graduation parties, summer vacation and backyard cookouts.

But a bigger celebration is looming, even if it’s not on everyone’s radar just yet.

America is turning 250 this year — a milestone that will be marked with celebrations everywhere from the nation’s capital to small towns throughout the country.

I’m just old enough to remember the last big national celebration — the bicentennial — when red, white and blue seemed to touch every aspect of daily life.

Flags hung from porches; banners stretched across streets and storefronts, and even the smallest communities found a way to mark the nation’s 200th and carve out their own piece of history.

We all shared in those celebrations — large and small.

As the country’s 250th birthday approaches, local communities across Carbon County again are gearing up to mark the occasion.

Coming up next weekend, two-man teams will set sail in historical- or patriotic-themed, cardboard boats for a Boat Regatta at Baer Memorial Park in Lehighton. Boats go on display Saturday at noon and race heats start at 1 p.m. Sunday is the rain date.

Then on Monday, the Nesquehoning Historical Society presents Dave Matsinko taking people on a journey through 250 years of patriotic music starting at 6 p.m.

The musical evening is a prelude to a much larger dual celebration in the borough in mid-June, marking the borough 202nd anniversary as well as America’s 250th.

A community concert with the Cressona Band is planned June 12 at 7 p.m. at Nesquehoning Little League Field, and the following day hosts a community parade and street festival with food trucks, contests and children’s activities wrapping up with fireworks.

The borough will also be welcoming guests for Reading & Northern’s 2102 excursions and the Union Pacific 4014 Big Boy engine the same weekend.

Lehighton welcomes people the same weekend to SteamPunk in the Park: Come Celebrate America’s 250th June 13 from 1-7 p.m. on First Street in the borough’s downtown. The block party will also feature food trucks, music and a steampunk costume contest.

Also in June, the Palmerton Area Historical Society will host, “Palmerton’s Legacy 250 Years of American Contribution” presented by Steven Semmel on June 8 at 6:30 p.m. at Palmerton Library’s Knights Gallery.

Lansford, which is celebrating its 150th anniversary, will also be celebrating in June with two events.

The first will bring the America250PA Mobile Unit to Ashton Park on June 18 from 5:30-7:30 p.m. The mobile unit allows people to engage in interactive exhibits featuring the Keystone State and also share their own history in a digital storytelling booth.

Organizers are also planning a historical scavenger hunt to go along with the movie “National Treasure,” which will be shown in the park. People should bring blankets of chairs, and food and beverages will be available.

Then, on June 28, Lansford celebrates its 150th with a day of music in the Panther Valley Stadium featuring the 28th Infantry Division Band, M&J Big Band and Jimmy Sturr Orchestra. Music begins at 2 p.m., with gates opening at 1 p.m. Fireworks will cap off the evening.

Jim Thorpe hosts its America 250th Anniversary Celebration starting July 2 at Memorial Park with a community festival, while Weissport, the home of the county’s Liberty Tree and America250 Liberty Bell, will host the county’s Fourth of July parade on July 4.

The Fourth of July party shifts to Lehighton with a block party starting at 4 p.m. at Lehighton Borough Park ahead of the annual fireworks spectacular along Sgt. Stanley Hoffman Boulevard at 9:30 p.m.

And more events celebrating the nation’s 250th will continue through the end of the year. A complete list is available on the Carbon County website as well as the Pocono Mountain Visitors Bureau website.

Let’s not forget these celebrations are happening — even life rushes forward with the school days counting down to summer vacation, graduations and the promise of backyard gatherings with friends and family.

A larger celebration is taking shape — and we can all share in that national milestone and history.