Los Alamos Old Days this weekend will mark its 80th anniversary and honor Charles “Charlie” Gonzales as the parade grand marshal.

Old Days is a three-day annual festival held the last full weekend of September by the Los Alamos Valley Men’s Club. 

The theme of this year’s festival, located downtown on Bell Street, is “How the West Was One,” which honors the history and community of the town. This year’s festival will include the signature 5k run, a car show, live music and a parade from years past.

Gonzales, this year’s grand marshal, has been a part of the Los Alamos Valley since he was 5 years old. In 1978, he opened the well-known Charlie’s Place restaurant, which is now Los Alamos’ longest continuously running business.

Additionally, he has served for six terms as president of the men’s club, as well as being involved with the community in other ways, such as coaching youth sports, serving on the cemetery and water boards, and contributing to building Ferrini Park.

“I love this town and the people who have become family,” Gonzales said.

The parade is scheduled to start at 11 a.m. Sunday on Bell Street.

This year, the festival is set to kick off at 5 p.m. Friday with the third annual buck contest, where participants can put their hunting skills to the test in a competition to “bag the biggest buck in the valley.”

This year’s contest has seven categories, including highest scoring, biggest fork horn, biggest archery, biggest youth, highest scoring ladies, biggest public and, new to this year, judges choice.

Following the competition will be the buck contest dinner at 6 p.m. held at the men’s club, including live music by classic country band Red Oak Country.

On Saturday, the festival is set to begin at 9 a.m. and will include the classic car show and the artisan faire until 3 p.m. Beginning at 10 a.m., the kids carnival will open at Ferrini Park until 3 p.m. 

From 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., food vendors will appear on Centennial Street. At noon, the bar will open and Whiskey Bent BBQ will serve tri-tip sandwiches at the men’s club. 

The dog parade at Ferrini Park, sponsored by Flying Z Ranch owners Ron and Betty Ziegler, is also set to begin at noon.

By Sunday, the festival will begin with Element Christian Church Service at Ferrini Park, followed by the Old Days 5k Run at 9:30 a.m. sponsored by running club Cal Swoosh.

During the 5k, the parade and most of the same programming from Saturday will be ongoing, with an additional live music performance from a country duo at the men’s club. At Ferrini Park, there will be water balloon tossing at 1 p.m. and a watermelon-eating contest sponsored by Spencer’s Fresh Markets at 1:30 p.m.