How do the townspeople prepare for the lottery in Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery"?

In "The Lottery," by Shirley Jackson, every year on June 27th the townspeople would gather together in the town square beginning at about 10:00 in the morning.

"The children assembled first, of course. School was recently over for the summer, and the feeling of liberty sat uneasily on most of them; they tended to gather together quietly for a while before they broke into boisterous play, and their talk was still of the classroom and the teacher, of books and reprimands. Bobby Martin had already stuffed his pockets full of stones, and the other boys soon followed his example, selecting the smoothest and roundest stones..." (Jackson 1)

The children prepared by making a big pile of stones. After the children, the men began to gather and then the women. They stood around talking and waiting for the postmaster, Mr. Graves, and Mr. Summers, who conducted the lottery, to arrive. Mr. Summers brought with him the black box, in which he put all of the townspeople's names for the drawing. Mr. Summers and Mr. Graves always prepared the box the night before. They put the box in a safe that Mr. Summers kept at his company to make sure nobody could tamper with it or take it. On the day of the lottery, the two men made up lists of families from the heads of the family to each of the members. Finally, Mr. Summers was sworn in by Mr. Graves to conduct the lottery.

The lottery had become a ritual over the years, and everyone knew exactly what to do. 

In Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery," what are the characters' opinions about the lottery in nearby communities?

The townspeople in Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery" are aware that the lottery is being modified or abandoned elsewhere. Their remarks display a vague sense of uneasiness at changing times, and lend the village an insular, or even besieged, ambiance.

The spokesman for tradition is Old Man Warner ("he who warns": many names are symbolic). Told that the north village is thinking of giving up its lottery, he responds with disdain:

Next thing you know, they’ll be wanting to go back to living in caves, nobody work any more....First thing you know, we’d all be eating stewed chickweed and acorns.

In other words, the lottery certifies the village is civilized. For him, it is the village, and in the face of change and outside attack, needs to be upheld mindlessly:

"There’s always been a lottery,” he added petulantly. “Bad enough to see young Joe Summers up there joking with everybody.”

Thus, Warner's comments link neglect for the lottery elsewhere with social change in the village itself. Outsiders who give it up are a "pack of young fools," he adds (my emphasis). Later, when Tessie Hutchinson complains, Warner remarks,

“It’s not the way it used to be,” Old Man Warner said clearly. “People ain’t the way they used to be.”

The remarks about the decline of the lottery elsewhere thus reinforce the oppressive feeling that permeates the village and heighten the tragedy of Tessie's death by questioning its necessity and inevitability.