Jim Scripps, many years ago celebrated the Fourth of July by shooting off fireworks from a "rock" just off Charles Island. The population of Lopez would flock to the south end, in the area of Richardson to view the fireworks. While not necessarily artistic, it was a great deal of fun. With Jim's passing a little over 23 years ago, three people got together and began to organize a group to do the fireworks display for Lopez Island. They kept the fireworks on the south end, and then decided to move the display to Fisherman Bay where more people would be able to view the show. It began small and has built up year after year, to what it is now.

The show has gone way beyond just shooting off a beautiful display for the public to view. We have received publicity far and wide, the publicity has used such verbiage as "the largest all volunteer, the most artistic, the biggest, the best" and etc. Even the fires a few years ago, caused a great deal of publicity, not all good, but publicity that seemed to bring more interest. As a result of the fires, we now meet with several organizations to make the whole day better and safer for all that attend. The Fireworks Committee, the Fire Department, Sheriff Department, Chamber of Commerce, and the Road Department all coordinate our efforts in traffic control, fire and medical safety. The Lions club allows the Fireworks/Chamber of Commerce Float to lead the parade each year, collecting donations to support the fireworks display. We love it when even the smallest people (the kids) get such joy out of giving their pennies. The Lopez Yacht club does a wonderful job of collecting donations from boats in the bay and moored on docks. The Community Center and their wonderful grounds always welcome our Barbeque. For those of us that have been a part of this for many years it is a truly amazing thing. We now pretty much saturate Lopez with visitors; the Washington State Ferry System even, sometimes, acknowledges Lopez's popularity with extra boats, hopefully this will be the case this year. It is our belief that the economy of Lopez is strengthened by our show, not just on the fourth of July but for the whole year.