Lopez’s Fourth of July celebration has become one of the state’s most treasured celebrations, and visitors come from all over to participate in the island’s festivities.
Lions Fun Run (or walk)
Help make this a true Lopez family-oriented Fourth of July celebration by beginning the holiday participating in the 39th annual Lopez Lions Club Fun Run/Walk. Lions has the distance that fits your personal exercise schedule. Choose either a 1-mile romp, 5-km (3.1-mile) run, 10-km (6.2-mile) run, or a 5-km walk. All events are the morning of July Fourth and begin at 8:30 a.m. at Islanders Bank. Each person will be electronically timed, and prizes will be awarded for age-group winners.
Early registration forms are available at the Lopez Village Market bulletin board, the Ferry Landing ticket booth bulletin board, Holly B’s bulletin board, the Lopez Library and the Lopez Island Chamber of Commerce office.
Registration is Monday, July 2, and Tuesday, July 3, at the Lopez Village Market parking lot between noon and 4 p.m. Late registration is July 4, 7-8 a.m. at Islanders Bank.
This fundraiser will help the Lopez Lions club support local nonprofit organizations which include the Family Resource Center, local vision assistance, Prevention Coalition, Cemetery Association and Lopez School programs and trips; benefit your health through early morning exercise; and place you in the village well before the start of the 11 a.m. parade in order to pick your favorite viewing spot.
So exchange your street shoes for either your walking or running shoes, and help make this the biggest Lopez Lions Club fundraiser yet. While registering you may also purchase a purple designer t-shirt with Center Church printed on the front for $10, while supplies last.
For more information, email jerryhancock@rockisland.com or ianlange@rockisland.com.
Community parade
Lopez Island’s annual old-fashioned parade starts at 11 a.m. Everyone is invited to either join in the parade or to watch from along the roadsides. The parade starts between the Galley Restaurant and the Islander Resort on Fisherman Bay Road and winds through the Village on Lopez Road ending at the corner of Week’s and Fisherman Bay roads.
Parade entries can be elaborate (for Lopez) floats or simple costumes and posters. Registration begins at 9 a.m. between the Galley Restaurant and the Islander Resort.
Used Book Sale
On July Fourth, the Friends of the Lopez Island Library will hold their eagerly awaited Used Book Sale at the Lopez Center. The sale will be held between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. with hardback books, paperbacks and other items sold at terrific prices. Get there early for the best selection! Purchase a red book bag for $20, and all the books you can fit into it are free. The sale is now accepting credit cards as well as cash.
All profits from the sale go to the Friends of Lopez Island Library which is a fundraising arm of the library and supports a variety of library programs and special equipment purchases that benefit the library and its patrons. Special programs supported by the Friends of the Library include the Coast Salish Speaker series. The Children’s Summer Reading Program, Children’s Summer Program, Teddy Bear Picnic and Books for Babies are programs directed at young readers and future readers.
Many valued volunteers will help with the sale.
Firework show
At 10:30 p.m., find a spot to sit back, relax and watch one of the largest, most spectacular community-funded firework shows in the Pacific Northwest.
Lopez Community Fireworks Display Committee is an all-volunteer team, with active members from Friday Harbor, Lopez and Orcas. The group banded together to pursue pyrotechnics as their collective art form, with the night sky as the canvas and has developed unique fireworks effects over the years that have garnered numerous awards at the Pyrotechnics Guild International Fireworks Competition, with a pyrotechnic style that is uniquely traditional.
Lopez Fireworks’ signature style includes 15 sets for its annual show, wherein the shells are displayed in the Japanese Tradition. This artistic style is all about contrast in time, noise, light and space, and the appreciation of individual fireworks effects and their characteristic nuances.
As a volunteer community organization, the committee is always looking for passionate, interested people to help with the myriad of tasks that it takes to produce two Fourth of July displays in the San Juan Islands – one on Lopez and one on San Juan. If you have an interest in helping out, contact Nick Gislason at gislasn@gmail.com or call 206-458-9097.
